Here is Psalm 43 from the 1650 Scottish Psalter sung to the tune MARTYRS. Note that it is in the dorian mode, whose use is quite rare amongst the tunes to which this 17th-century collection has been set. This gives the text an unusually plaintive feel, although the dorian mode covers an emotional range beyond the plaintive as well. The Genevan Psalter, by contrast, sets just over a third of the Psalm texts to tunes in the dorian or hypodorian modes. One explanation for this difference is that the tunes of the Genevan Psalter were influenced by gregorian chant and the traditional church modes, while the Scottish Psalter was less dependent on these historic elements, having originated at a time when western music was transitioning from its mediaeval form and assuming the tonal patterns more familiar to us today.
