Romania is, of course, an historic Orthodox country, its population more familiar with the cadences of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom than with the tradition of metrical psalmody familiar within, for example, the Church of Scotland or the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. Nevertheless, Romania's evangelical Christians amount to around 5-6 percent of the total population of 19 million. And it seems that they are newly committed to singing the Psalms, a liturgical practice that is now more accessible after the publication of this collection.
The first edition of Cântările Psalmilor was published as recently as 2000, but its origins go back half a century earlier, traceable to the sufferings of three remarkable Romanian Christians, Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001), Traian Dorz (1914-1989), and Nicolae Moldoveanu (1922-2007), who were imprisoned by the communist regime that assumed power in Bucharest following the Second World War. Wurmbrand spent 14 years in prison and is well known amongst North Americans for his books, especially Tortured for Christ, which was made into a film in 2018. Dorz completed an initial draft of his versified Psalms while in prison in 1947 and 48. During that time, a prisoner was allowed to keep a Bible and a notebook for writing in his cell. (King Michael remained on the throne until December of 1947, and a limited degree of religious liberty was still permitted.) With ample time on his hands, Dorz kept himself busy with this project, possibly aware in some sense that God was using this occasion of adversity to shape something of lasting significance for his fellow Christians.
Here is Moldoveanu's account of the Psalter's origin from the first edition as translated by Tămaș:
It was back in 1947, during a conversation I had with Richard Wurmbrand, when he shared with me the thought of him writing a book that would comprise meditations on the Song of Songs, containing not only prose, but also poetry and music – Traian Dorz would versify some ideas from the Song of Songs, while I would write the music.
I found the suggestion both beautiful and interesting. I accepted the proposition at once and talked to T. Dorz, too. He also liked the idea, but in the meantime, R. Wurmbrand was arrested and we no longer started the project. Nonetheless, I told Dorz we could work together on creating a Romanian Metrical Psalter. Dorz welcomed the proposal and started working right away. However, not long after our discussion, he was arrested as well (on Christmas, in 1947, and he was released in spring 1948, close to Easter). When we met after his release, he gave me the first versified Psalms and I started composing the music for them. The whole project took almost three years. In 1950, all the Psalms were ready and later on, they were organized in four-part harmony, which is the current format in the book.
These Psalms (beside other songs) born during the most desperate times of suffering and persecution (when there was no other means of communication to help strengthen the brotherhood) were–for more than fifty years during Communism–the means provided by God to refresh our faith and sustain our brotherly bond. Due to this ministry on the field of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we endured great suffering caused by the state’s secret police, as we were sentenced to many years of prison; moreover, after our release, we were constantly harassed through the frequent "house hunts", during which they would confiscate manuscripts, books, Bibles, and magnetic tapes on which we recorded songs. Despite everything, by the grace of the Lord we moved forward.
I lift all my praise, worship and thanksgiving up to God, from whom we receive every good gift through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour!
This story explains why, amongst the many metrical psalters produced since the 16th century, Cântările Psalmilor is unique. The Genevan Psalter, to which I myself have devoted decades of effort, was created in a city whose church was undergoing reform with the blessing of city officials. Although the 1650 Scottish Psalter was forged during the civil wars that wracked the British Isles in the 1640s, it was compiled by an official body, the Westminster Assembly, which included members of the Parliament of England. The 1912 Psalter was put together by a confessionally Reformed denomination within a context of domestic peace.
By contrast, like so many of the Psalms themselves, Cântările Psalmilor was a product of suffering and persecution. The burgundy-covered volume I hold in my hands is all the more precious because it was bought at such a steep price by its originators. After so many centuries of adversity, from Ottoman Turkish occupation to the world wars to Marxist-Leninist tyranny, Romanian Christians are at last free to sing God's praises, to celebrate his grace, and, of course, to lament the hardships suffered with a book born of suffering. As a North American Christian living under vastly different circumstances, I would love to see a translation of these texts into English so that we too might benefit from Cântările Psalmilor and learn something of what it means to follow Christ through the times of trial that we ourselves may live to see.
The bulk of the volume is, of course, made up of the songs themselves, divided up into five sections representing the five books of the Psalms in the Bible. There is also much ancillary material, making this a valuable resource for information about the Psalms and their liturgical use. Tămaș has authored a Preface to the New Edition and an extended essay near the end advocating the liturgical use of the Psalms. Moldoveanu wrote some of the material at the beginning which is reproduced from the first edition. This includes the "short history" translated above. Emanuel Bălăceanu, a university lecturer at Universitatea Emanuel in Oradea, has contributed editorial notes relevant to the music.
Finally, there are two indices completing this volume. The first is a topical index, and the second is an exhaustive survey enabling us to find Christ in every Psalm.
Immediately below is a video of a congregation singing Psalm 24 ("The earth is the LORD's and the fulness thereof") at last October's Psalm conference in Oradea:
I will shortly return to Cântările Psalmilor and discuss the difficulties of rendering a collection like this in a usable and accurate English-language version. Here is a short clip presenting the book with English subtitles
Other links:
No comments:
Post a Comment