Singing with Soul

With the recent visit of the relics of St Padre Pio we had many people visit the Cathedral for the various Masses celebrated during that time.

At some of the Masses our Communion reflection hymn was ‘Soul of my Saviour’ – this hymn is often considered an old, perennial favourite.

I’m always interested as to why some pieces are sung well and others not so. I have to say in this case, the congregation sang it very well. So why do people sing this hymn so easily?

As students of music theory, we are told that if something is well written, it will be easy to sing. And we are taught rudimentary rules of good melody writing. On first analysis, this melody looks well-constructed and generally of a very pleasing nature sitting ‘easily on the ear’.

Without wishing to duplicate what has already been written about well-written and not so well written hymnody let’s consider just a few of these rules and have a closer look:

Aim to reach a climax around three quarters of the way through the melody TICK

Leaps of an octave or a sixth should be followed by notes within the compass of that interval TICK

Avoid covering the interval of a ninth TICK

Avoid returning to the same note too many times as this creates monotony TICK

Consider also this hymn’s harmonic progression and the bass line which propels it forward – the harmonic progressions are sensible and almost predictable, but with some variety – and a tasteful modulation half way through. And when played fervently and with strength and purpose, it can be quite stirring. It somehow creates a sense inherent strength and stability.

Consider the text – it’s the famous prayer ‘Anima Christi’ attributed Pope John XXII (1244-1334). This prayer speaks of wanting to be truly close to Christ. It meditates a little on his Passion, and through the trials of our life it asks Him to be our strength. Perhaps in our increasingly secular and impersonal world this resonates within us on an even deeper level than it did in years gone by.

In contemplation, it would seem this old favourite of our treasury of hymnody is well-written musically – but perhaps ‘old’ is not actually best word to use here – perhaps ‘timeless’ would be better.

And considering all of these points, perhaps that’s why people sing this timeless hymn well.