GENEVAN 128

Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel

The music of Claude Goudimel (b. Besançon, France, c. 1505; d. Lyons, France, 1572) was first published in Paris, and by 1551 he was composing harmonizations for some Genevan psalm tunes-initially for use by both Roman Catholics and Protestants. He became a Calvinist in 1557 while living in the Huguenot community in Metz. When the complete Genevan Psalter with its unison melodies was published in 1562, Goudimel began to compose various polyphonic settings of all the Genevan tunes. He actually composed three complete harmonizations of the Genevan Psalter, usually with the tune in the tenor part: simple hymn-style settings (1564), slightly more complicated harmonizations (1565), and quite elaborate, motet-like settings (1565-1566). The vario… Go to person page >

GENEVAN 128 was first published in the 1543 edition of the Genevan Psalter. Claude Goudimel (PHH 6) harmonized the tune in 1564; originally the melody was in the tenor. In the Dorian mode, this tune consists of four long lines in two pairs, consisting of slightly different rhythmic patterns. A striking melody with larger intervals at the beginnings of lines 1 and 2, GENEVAN 128 is worth the effort it may require to learn.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook