The school website is posting the music score and and other quasi-Xaverian marches. We hope that this move will provide a useful record for our archives so that these melodies will be preserved for posterity.
Among those posted are:
Alma Mater’s Call
LoyaltyEver Onwards St Xavier’s
De La Salle
When The Saints Go Marching In
School Rally – Alma Mater’s Call
For the first time, the 3rd verse of the Alma Mater’s Call is published and posted and probably for the first time, is being made known to Xaverians. This missing link thus completes our school rally, which has only been sung in the first two verses.
The melody of the Alma Mater’s Call was derived from an Irish march and the words were written by Brother Marcian, Director of St Xavier’s Institution in 1917. Today, it is used as the official school rally of most Christian Brothers’ School throughout Malaysia and Singapore.
Alma Mater’s Call
All through our college a voice is resounding,
Promptly respond to your duty’s sweet call,
Harken you all for the trumpet is sounding,
Your mater’s proclaiming her watchwords to all
Chorus:
Forward her children dear,
Ever with hearts sincere,
Render with joy to your mater her due,
All that is vile reject,
Heaven will e’er protect,
Sons of St Xavier’s valiant and true.
Labour will conquer your motto still bearing,
Forward with courage in ways that are just,
True to your standard, be doing and daring,
As faithful Xaverians in Heaven your trust
Onward and upward in life’s earnest battle,
Joyously bearing the brunt of the fight,
Nobly forgiving for aught they may pain you,
And bravely defending the cause of the right.
Loyalty
The SXI Hymn Book describes Loyalty as Centenary Song (March). This song was introduced in St Xavier’s in 1952 during the centenary celebrations of our school (1852-1952). However, the true origins still remain a mystery. For 25 years after that, Loyalty was just another obscure song. In 1977, when the 7th Georgetown (GT) North Scouts celebrated its 45th anniversary, Group Scout Master Mr Khoo Heng San revived the song for the scout community of St Xavier’s. It was not until 1980 during the La Salle Tercentenary Celebrations that Loyalty was propagated to the whole school once more.
Tragically, today this song has been relegated to the ashes of Xaverian memory.
Loyalty
Oh, we are marching with a song,
A song of loyalty,
We see our banners flying high,
Symbol of victory,
Our alma mater we all hail,
Our love shall never fail,
For we are strong and brave,
So let our colours wave,
While every loyal son is true to thee.
Chorus:
Men have marched before us,
To the honour of the school,
On the filed and in the classroom,
They gave their best… it was the rule,
Now we are marching in their place,
And we always do our part,
So come on one and all,
Let us rally to the call,
Let us lift our song with all our hearts.