Münsterschwarzacher Psalter

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Choir stalls in Münsterschwarzach Abbey, the place for the Liturgy of the Hours.

The Münsterschwarzacher Psalter is a translation of the psalms from Biblical Hebrew into modern German. He combines aptitude for Gregorian chant with a basic text-oriented translation.

Emergence

Psalms form the core of the monastic divine office . The editors of the German Antiphonale , which was written 1969–1974 (ie before the standard translation ), were not yet interested in a translation of the Hebrew Psalms; their main concern was good singability. They resorted to Romano Guardini's translation of the Latin Psalter ( Psalterium Pianum ).

When the antiphonals were revised in the 1990s based on new insights into Gregorian chant (Benedictine or Münsterschwarzacher antiphonals), a new psalm translation was also needed. The psalms of the standard translation were considered difficult to sing. Exegetes and musicians from various Benedictine monasteries therefore re-translated the psalms from the original texts; the editorial office was in the Münsterschwarzach monastery , hence the name. In addition to the standard translation, comparisons were made throughout: the German translation of the scriptures ( Buber / Rosenzweig ), Luther's Biblia Deudsch (1545), the Zurich Bible , the Traduction Oecuménique and the Bible de Jérusalem .

The working group included the musicians Rhabanus Erbacher (Münsterschwarzach) and Roman Hofer (Engelberg); Godehard Joppich accompanied the work temporarily as a consultant. This working group included: Georg Braulik (Vienna), Notker Füglister (Disentis), Pirmin Hugger (Münsterschwarzach) and Willibald Kuhnigk (Nütschau).

After this translation of the Psalms was initially only to be found in the four volumes of the Benedictine Antiphonale (1996–1997) in the arrangement of the Liturgy of the Hours, it quickly acquired such a good reputation that it was published in 2003 without antiphons , but with the psalm headings in Hebrew Text (which are not necessary in the Liturgy of the Hours) was presented as reading steps.

At about the same time there was a change in Catholic biblical studies from exegesis of the psalms to exegesis of the psalms; H. one regards the psalter as an artistic composition and the individual psalms related to one another in many ways. The Münsterschwarzach Psalter has been translated so closely to the original text that many observations of the psaltery exegesis can be traced in it. Due to the formal laws of Gregorian chant, it also has a linguistic density.

The Münsterschwarzacher Psalter forms the textual basis for the psalmody in both editions of the Freiburg Cantor Book .

use

In the following monasteries (selection) the psalms are sung in the version of the Münsterschwarzacher Psalter in the hourly prayer:

Quote

“A guiding principle in the translation was the strict alignment with the Hebrew (Masoretic) text and the extensive renouncement of conjectures and the quick resort to the Septuagint (as can be observed in the standard translation ). In spite of all efforts to adhere to the verbo , a compromise was always necessary (for the sake of singability or comprehensibility, out of consideration for liturgical and monastic traditions or for the `` inclusive way of speaking '' demanded today ), so here too Luther The admission is that for a while we interpreted straight to the words, for a while we only made sense . "(Rhabanus Erbacher)

literature

  • Münsterschwarzacher Psalter. 3. Edition. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2007, ISBN 978-3-87868-235-6 .
  • Monks read the most beautiful psalms of the Münsterschwarzacher Psalter. Audio book. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2009, ISBN 978-3-89680-405-1 .
  • Anselm Grün : If I call, give me an answer. Psalms that accompany my life. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2009, ISBN 978-3-89680-404-4 .
  • Friedrich Lurz: The Münsterschwarzacher Psalter translation. In: Albert Gerhards (Hrsg.): Translate: Bible, Spirituality and Aesthetics of Faith. Lit, Münster 2004, ISBN 978-3-8258-7399-8 , pp. 57-62.
  • Norbert Lohfink : The Münsterschwarzacher Psalter. In: Bibel und Liturgie, 1/2003, ISSN  0006-064X , pp. 71–81.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rhabanus Erbacher (preface): Benedictine Antiphonale, Volume I, Vigil - Laudes . Ed .: Münsterschwarzach Abbey. 2nd Edition. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2002, ISBN 3-87868-542-4 , p. 7-8 .