Although John Calvin (1509-1564), unlike Luther, was not very musical, he had a profound influence on church music. As a humanist he was convinced of the power that music has on human behavior. For Calvin, only unison congregational singing was allowed in the church. It is from this background that the French rhyming of the psalm book originated, which is of great importance from both a literary
… and a musical point of view. The lyrics were from Théodore de Bèze and Clément Marot and the melodies from Loys Bourgeois and "Maître Pierre". These psalms were an important source of musical inspiration. Composers such as Loys Bourgeois, Claude Goudimel, Adrian Leroy, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Jacob van Eyck and others made vocal and / or instrumental arrangements of these psalms, that were not suitable for church service because of their polyphonic or instrumental character; they were therefore intended for domestic use. The Center de Musique Ancienne - Geneve and the ensembles Clément Janequin and Les Eléments released a CD with psalm arrangements by the above composers. (HJ) _more