Inflection
Change of pitch in the psalm tone.
What it means
Inflexion (Latin flexa) designates in liturgical psalm singing a small melodic bend in the first part of a long psalm verse: the accented syllable is still sung on the reciting tone, the following unaccented one a whole tone or a minor third lower, after which the melody returns to the reciting tone until the mediant (mediatio). The greater part of a psalm verse is delivered on an unchanging pitch; besides the opening formula (initium), the mediant, and the ending (terminatio), the inflexion articulates shorter units of sense and thus fulfils the same task as punctuation in a written text.
In the notation
In liturgical books the inflections appear as short note sequences notated before and after the reciting tone. Markings in the text indicate on which syllables they fall; usually the distribution follows the last stressed syllables of a line. Modern editions use bold type, italics, or accent marks for this.
Musical use
The system makes it possible to sing texts of any length with a few formulas without the articulation being lost. Musically this yields a performance that stays close to speaking and at the same time has fixed points of reference. Because the inflections depend on the stress of the text, they show how closely language and melody are connected in this repertoire. The same principle has an after-effect in polyphonic psalm settings, which take the reciting tone and its cadences as a basis.
Performance practice
Before singing, determine the distribution of syllables using the markings and speak the verse aloud to secure the stresses. Keep the reciting tone calm and even; it is the reference, and any unrest there stands out. Execute the inflections without delay so that the flow of text is preserved. Breathe together at the intended caesuras. In alternating singing, agree the connection between the groups so that no gap arises.