PERFORMANCE PRACTICE IN HYMN SINGING

Delivered by;

Benafa, David Zitu

B. A., M. A. Mus performance.

Executive director, ZimusiQ, Warri.

Music director, Green Chamber Chorale.

Lecturer, College of Education, Warri.

Lecturer, Music Academy, Catholic Diocese of Warri.

Time: 9am

Good morning 😊

I believe we had a wonderful night rest.

I will try to be as simple as possible, for easy comprehension.

The topic is more practical than theoretical, thus, a practical session would best explain the ideas to us.

However, I would do my best to pass out the vital.

A hymn is a religious song of prayer or adoration, and is of Greek origin.

We will here note that a writer of hymns is called a hymnodist. The composition or performance of
hymns is referred to as hymnody.

Our focus is on its performance practice. Every type of music has a performance practice(manner with
which it was performed as at the period of its emergence)
PERFORMANCE

Hymns are to be sung expressing the singer’s attitude towards God, with all simpleness, emotion and
reverence.

Because the lyrics of hymns are highly and divinely inspired, they are termed prayers.

Tempo

Most hymns are of a tempo moderato. Too fast or too slow weakens the character of hymns, except
occasionally where it may be suitable.

Moderate tempo allows for a better pronunciation and understanding of the lyrics filled with changing
words.

Dynamics

It is observed that choir masters employ dynamics(volume control) as it pleases them. This pattern may
not be very musical. Hymns have verses that contains different messages. The content of the message
can be a guide for your choice of dynamics.

E.g the first phrase of the hymn It is well with my soul reads “when peace like a river attendeth my way.”
This suggests calmness that a mezzo piano mp would well portray. Though, when sung by the entire
congregation, these dynamic differences may pose not achievable.

Note that singing every verse with the same dynamics will not give a great musical experience.

Vocal Expression

This is s very important aspect of hymnody. Around this part of the world, we find choirs with singers
who have rapacious voices. Sopranos and tenors working tirelessly to sound great with the use of the
vibrato technique.

Because hymns took its origin from church psalms and chants. The singing style is very fluid or legato,
with minimum use of the vibrato. As you may know, the vibrato not well used, steals the pure sound of
sung words.
Phrasing

Hymns are written in short or long phrases that often sum up to meters.

A hymn metre indicates the number of syllables for the lines in each stanza of a hymn. This provides a
means of marrying the hymn’s text with an appropriate hymn tune for singing… Wikipedia

Singers are not to break the flow within a phrase. i.e , every phrase is to be sung with a single breath.

I also say here that it is one of the practices to sing unison on the first verse of a hymn. This serves as a
statement. Thereafter, a split into the full harmony from the second verse. This is however not a fixed
rule. I only find it most appropriate. The last verse could be unison where there is a descant.

You may have found that in a line of some hymns, there are one or more commas dividing the phrase
into shorter combinations. These commas do not mean an intake of breath. They are just slight pauses
for a better understanding of the text.

The actual breathing areas are at the end of the musical phrases as explained in cadences in one of our
earlier lectures.

Descant

Simply put, descants are counter melodies sounding above the original melody of a hymn.

This is usually employed at the last verse of a hymn, and sung by mostly trebles, sopranos and
occasionally, tenors. They are a decorative end to hymns.

It is not advisable to sing descants if your sopranos are not well experienced.
Usually, choirmasters would assign such passages to a few singers who can play with their high vocal
registers.

If you are a composer who writes descants or intend to do so, always bear in mind that the descants,
the set melody and the accompaniment must agree. Accompanists should also note that the set
harmony may also not work for the descants. The first sets of decants were written with the organ
accompaniment. Organists with a rich knowledge of harmony can exhibit their dexterity at this point.

The accompaniment is usually heavier at this point, with lots of running and passing notes played with
the legs on the pedal board.

If you do not have a good organist, stick with the set harmony and leave the descant.

Today,

In a bid to satisfying the wants of this generation, some choirs have sort to fusing other performance
styles to hymnody. This style of performance introduces the use of recent musical instruments like the
jazz drums, guitars and African instrumental ensemble.

There are however, many who do not agree with these additions. They prefer the old tradition of voice
and organ, or voice and orchestra.

I have always preferred the old tradition.

For proper hymn singing, breath management should be developed. Legato works with breath
management. Phrasing works with breath management.

Hopefully, when we get into more practical aspects of music performance, we would learn to develop
our different singing or playing techniques.

God bless us everyone.

Question and Answer.

I call on others to add and answer the questions that would follow.

“Hymn writers of today are trying to be modern in both lyrics and melody.

I cannot categorically say whether there is a rule to the text being poetic or not”