Your hymn has several graceful ideas, including the graceful descending pentad motif that appears in phrase 1 and 2. I think a few things are impeding the overall symmetry of the hymn. 1- Each phrase except for the last progresses to and concludes on a dominant chord, so to me the overall harmonic progression of the hymn circles for these three phrases. 2-The last phrase stands out, because it is harmonically interesting, but also because it lacks any of the rhythmic or melodic motifs in phrases 1-3 that would have connected it with what came before. 3- I would analyze the overall structure as A-A'-B-C. Perhaps it would be more balanced as A-B-C-A' or A-A'-B-A'' 4-You have parallel 5ths in the second system, end of the 2nd full measure between "sweet" and "choirs". Perhaps solve this by utilizing an A maj chord (V/vi) on "sweet." 5-It would be nice to utilize the interesting rhythm of quarter note-half note, found in the first phrase m2 b1-3, again in phrase 2, and possibly in phrase 4 if you like the idea of an A-A'-B-A'' structure. Perhaps you could have an interesting ascending interval that grows taller each time. For instance, make "choirs" in phrase 2 an ascending 5th, F-C (quarter-half), and then speed up the rhythm in the latter part of the phrase.
I like it. If you were to change anything, perhaps the very final chord could be g-f quarter-half to keep that special cadential rhythm and add a little symmetry to the rhythm of the last line. But I definitely don’t mind the last line being different as there are many hymns that do this.
I’d be happy to spend a little time engraving this if you’d be willing to share the xml. We also should let the author of a recent thread that collated all musical resources pertaining to St. Joseph to add this to the list.
To participate in the discussions on Catholic church music, sign in or register as a forum member, The forum is a project of the Church Music Association of America.