Chichester Psalms was commissioned by the Very Reverend Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England for its Festival in 1965. At the time, Bernstein was on a sabbatical from his duties with the New York Philharmonic and used the time to experiment. “I spent almost the whole year writing 12-tone music and even more experimental stuff,” he said. “I was happy that all these new sounds were coming out; but after about six months of work I threw it all away. It just wasn't my music; it wasn't honest.”

Bernstein returned to tonality and to the commission, titled Chichester Psalms, “the most accessible, B-flat-major-ish tonal piece I've ever written.” The text, in Hebrew, presents three complete Psalms and parts of three others. He completed the work on May 7, 1965. It was first performed with a mixed choir and the New York Philharmonic on July 15, 1965.

Joan Peyser writes: “On the surface Chichester Psalms seems almost a parody of a tonal piece: Its pitch relations are simple. Nevertheless it is difficult to perform. That is because of the presence of so many irregular meters of fives and sevens. Although there is no sustained syncopation in this apparently sacred piece, the prevalence of irregular meters contribute to a feeling of suppressed jazz.”

~ Program Notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2022.