A Voice from the Desert Comes Awful and Shrill in Tonic Solfa
A Voice from the Desert Comes Awful and Shrill in Tonic Solfa to ST DENIO, doh is G: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dA- | l,Voice-f,from-rthe- | t,des--s,ert-dcomes- | maw--mful-rand- | dshrill;---dThe- |
| l,Lord-f,is-rad-- | t,vanc--s,ing;-dpre-- | mpare-mye-rthe- | dway!---dThe- |
| mword-mof-sJe-- | mho--dvah-dhe- | mcomes-mto-sful-- | rfil,---mAnd- |
| do'er-l,the-rdark- | t,world-s,pour-dthe- | msplen--mdor-rof- | dday.--- |
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- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- d (G)
- Range
- f, to s (C to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- ST DENIO
- Music
- Welsh melody
Tune ST DENIO (Welsh melody); words by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649). Sources and licences.
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is G · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
A Voice from the desert comes awful and shrill;
The Lord is advancing; prepare ye the way!
The word of Jehovah he comes to fulfil,
And o'er the dark world pour the splendor of day.
Bring down the proud mountain, though towering to heaven,
And be the low valley exalted on high;
The rough path and crooked be made smooth and even,
For, Zion! your King, your Redeemer, is nigh.
The beams of salvation his progress illume,
The lone, dreary wilderness sings of her God;
The rose and the myrtle there suddenly bloom,
And the olive of peace spreads its branches abroad.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
- Pitch the first note. The tune starts on d (G), on the word “A”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/4 means three crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
About the hymn
William Drummond of Hawthornden wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 103, “"Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!"”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Elevens (11.11.11.11), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ST DENIO; any other Elevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649)
- Melody, printed in John Roberts's Caniadau y Cyssegr (1839): Welsh melody
Tune ST DENIO (Welsh melody); words by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649).
Sung to the same tune: Approach Not the Altar with Gloom in Thy Soul, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.
Questions about A Voice from the Desert Comes Awful and Shrill
What is the doh of A Voice from the Desert Comes Awful and Shrill?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. If your choir sings it in another key, doh moves to the new key note and every solfa syllable stays the same — that is what movable doh means.
What note does A Voice from the Desert Comes Awful and Shrill start on?
It starts on d (G in G major), a pickup on the word “A” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is A Voice from the Desert Comes Awful and Shrill in the public domain?
Yes. William Drummond of Hawthornden died in 1649; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1839. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.