NOTE: This section contains a number of notated examples that I have not scanned in at this time.
It is traditional in the Anglican church to sing, chant or intone at least some of the prayers and responses.
The custom was, primarily, one of convenience. A clergyman taking service in a large church can more easily make himself heard by raising the pitch of his voice than he could by forcing his natural speech: the congregation, responding in a like manner, will utter their words more distinctly, in contrast to the unintelligible mutterings so often heard when the responses are "said."
Since the natural inflections of the voice are not easily achieved under such circumstances, artificial and sometimes elaborate inflections have been invented. The responses have thus become an embellishment to the service, and the original reason for intoning them is generally overlooked. Those who object to the intoning of the responses do so because they regard intoning purely as an embellishment; and in small churches where the natural speaking pitch would be sufficient to carry the voice to all the congregation, intoning may truly be more of an embellishment than anything else, since it has not the same utilitarian purpose that it has in larger churches. But whatever the motive, intoning is firmly established in the Anglican tradition, and should be encouraged as a normal mode of expression rather than something special that tends to confuse the congregation on festivals.
Two sets of responses for Morning and Evening Prayer are in general use: the Ferial and the Festal. In their original forms they begin with the responses after the first Lord's Prayer and end with the Third Collect. In many churches, only the part of the service between those two points is intoned, that having comprised the entire service of Morning and Evening Prayer at the time the music for the responses was provided.
Although traditionalists are very touchy upon the subject, it must be declared that the argument for intoning or chanting only part of the service is deficient in logic. Since the Prayer Book itself has undergone revision, surely the music that accompanies it is not too sacred for similar revision at the hands of competent church musicians. (Indeed, this work has been done; although the music has not been so much revised as edited and extended to meet the needs of the longer service.) Would those who insist that only the parts of the service known to Tallis should be intoned, ask the Canadian and American churches to interrupt a sung Litany to say, in the natural voice, those petitions that were not in the early English Prayer Book?
It seems far more consistent, and certainly it is in quite good form, to intone the entire service or to intone none of it. However, every point of view must be respected, and all usages will be taken into consideration when when the various services of the church are being discussed.
The Ferial setting of the responses is more suited to choirs which chant and, while the name suggests its use only for services other than festivals, it may well be used on all occasions.
The manner in which the responses are chanted often depends upon the system of notation employed. Some choirs forget that the notes are not intended to represent time values. The following version is not intended to be sung in strict time, despite the notations:
Usually one chord of indeterminate value is given for all but the last two syllables, and the words are monotoned with the same quantities and stresses as in normal speech.
It will be noticed that, because the alto has two notes for one syllable, this and the last syllable must be prolonged. To be consistent, the prolongation of the last two syllables must occur even when there is no real necessity for it:
If the unnatural prolongations are to be avoided, it is desirable to use a version which omits the C sharp in the alto. The entire response may then be made naturally.
The priest should be prevailed upon to practice with the choir occasionally in order that his manner of intoning may agree with that of the choir.
The responses, like the canticles and psalms, should be chanted at an easy, unhurried pace, but without unnatural drawling.
The Festal responses must be sung. Some slight modifications may be made to relieve the stiffness of strict time, but true chanting cannot be achieved.
The tempo of the Festal settings must be left to the discretion of the choirmaster. One is tempted to recommend a "dignified pace," but ideas of dignity vary so widely that the recommendation is meaningless. Generally speaking, the responses may be sung fairly briskly in a small church, but more slowly in a large building.
In some churches where daily services are held, the Festal Responses are used on Sundays and Red Letter Days, the Ferial setting on week days. Where services are held only on Sundays, the Ferial setting is often used except on major festivals. But it is not improper to use the Ferial Responses at any time; and when it is desired to adhere to the chanting method, the Festal setting may be disregarded altogether.
While it is unusual to depart from the traditional settings of the responses, other settings do exist and may well be used if they seem especially suited to the needs of a particular congregation.
Any convenient note may be given to the clergyman for intoning the prayers. The custom is to play the Amen after all intoned prayers. The custom is to play a soft accompaniment for all parts of the service which are intoned by the whole congregation. An organist who is not confident of his ability to improvise a background for the intoned parts of the service will have no difficulty in securing accompaniments.