Covering the entire Catholic Liturgical year, the Chabanel Psalms are free musical Responsorial Psalm scores for organist and vocalist based on Gregorian chant psalm tones. The Refrains were composed by Jeff Ostrowski. As of October, 2008, the site contains more than 1,800 free musical scores.

These two articles give a good overview: Article #1 • Article #2

These PDF scores are completely free. Please print them off and use them at your Church.

One of the features that makes the Chabanel Psalms unique is that they were specially formatted to make them as legible as possible, but with no (or very few) page turns.

The Catholic Church prescribes the text that must be used for the Responsorial Psalm at Mass. It will be noted that the official text has been adhered to with great scrupulosity. However, the formatting of this text (punctuation, capitalization, etc.) was done according to the author's vision.

The Chabanel Psalms (generally speaking) are modal and based on Gregorian chant. They were harmonized using a very eloquent system of Gregorian modal harmony. However, many of them need not be accompanied by the organ. Then, too, many of the responses (and, actually, even the verses themselves) can be sung in harmony, but this is only recommended for groups that read music very well.

The Chabanel Psalms are based on the assumption that the Refrain (of a Responsorial Psalm) must be very simple, so the people can learn it easily. However, the varied and richly beautiful organ accompaniments, it is hoped, will raise the music to a higher level, endearing them to even highly skilled musicians.

While using the Chabanel Psalms databases, remember the SEARCH function (CONTROL + F on most computers). Some may also find this chart helpful.

When one adapts Gregorian psalm tones for the English language, there are several different methods possible. The student of Gregorian chant will notice that in the Chabanel Psalms the psalm tones are adapted freely. Some of the choices and "inconsistencies" are due to accompaniment (harmonic) considerations. Those who wish to make the minor syllabic changes to match the Latin rules for Psalmody will have little difficulty doing so.

Offering alternatives for the (long and difficult) Gregorian Graduals is a new idea that was invented by the Second Vatican Council. For example:

"With regard to the formulas to be adopted for the simple chanting of the Graduals, Tracts,
and Alleluia verses, Dr. Wagner proposes that, to this end, reference be made to the
formulas of the responsorial psalms that have fallen into disuse. The liturgical nature
of these chants would thus be maintained. Dom Mocquereau shares this opinion."
—Pontifical Commission for the Editio Vaticana (minutes: September 8, 1904)

"With regard to the idea of shortening the verses of the Graduals and Alleluias, it seems that
Mr. Védie did not express himself well, or that he was misunderstood. He wrote to me that he
had simply wanted to say what I myself had said; but I never spoke of abbreviating anything,
but I did say that the melodies must remain as they are and that singers who do not know
them or cannot sing them could omit them, replacing them with organ, or performing the
psalms in another manner."
—Father de Santi, letter to Dom Mocquereau (August 26, 1901)