Ah Whither Should I Go in Tonic Solfa
Ah Whither Should I Go in Tonic Solfa to DIADEMATA, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dAh-dwhith-dermshould-mI- | lgo,-----lBur-- |
| sdened,-dand-fsick,-mand- | rfaint?-----rTo- |
| mwhom-sshould-lI-smy- | fetrou--mblesr_sshow,-d'And- |
| tpour-d'out-lmy-lcom-- | splaint?-----sMy- |
| sSa--mviour-rbids-dme- | lcome,-----lAh!- |
| lwhy-fedo-mI-rde-- | tlay?-----tHe- |
| d'calls--tthelwea--sry- | fsin--rner-mhome,-sAnd- |
| fyet-mfrom-rhim-rI- | dstay!------- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (D)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- DIADEMATA
- Words
- Charles Wesley, John Wesley
- Music
- George Job Elvey
Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) or John Wesley (1703–1791). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Ah whither should I go,
Burdened, and sick, and faint?
To whom should I my troubles show,
And pour out my complaint?
My Saviour bids me come,
Ah! why do I delay?
He calls the weary sinner home,
And yet from him I stay!
What is it keeps me back,
From which I cannot part,
Which will not let my Saviour take,
Possession of my heart?
Some cursed thing unknown
Must surely lurk within,
Some idol, which I will not own,
Some secret bosom-sin.
Jesu, the hindrance show,
Which I have feared to see:
Yet let me now consent to know
What keeps me out of thee:
Searcher of hearts, in mine
Thy trying power display;
Into its darkest corners shine,
And take the veil away.
I now believe in thee
Compassion reigns alone;
According to my faith to me
O let it, Lord, be done!
In me is all the bar,
Which thou wouldst fain remove;
Remove it, and I shall declare
That God is only love.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (D).
- Count the time. 4/4 means four 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 and the chromatic fe. 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
John Wesley printed these words in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 152. They first appeared in a book he and his brother Charles published together, and the Collection's own index cannot say which of the two wrote them.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Short Metre Double (6.6.8.6.6.6.8.6), and this page sets them to DIADEMATA; any other Short Metre Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Words: John Wesley (1703–1791)
- Melody (1868): George Job Elvey (1816–1893)
Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) or John Wesley (1703–1791).
Sung to the same tune: Ah, When Shall I Awake, And Am I Born to Die, Crown Him with Many Crowns, Equip Me for the War, Father of Boundless Grace, Gracious Redeemer, Shake, Great Source of Life and Light, Hark! Hark! with Harps of Gold, I Want a Sober Mind, I Was a Wandering Sheep, I Will Not Yield My Sword, In Fellowship, Alone, It Is the Hour of Prayer, Jesu, We Look to Thee, Jesus, My Strength, My Hope, Lord, When at Thy Command, My God, My Strength, My Hope, My Sin Was Very Great, O God, in Mercy Hear, O That I Could Repent, O Thou Who Wouldst Not Have, O Unexhausted Grace, Soldiers of Christ, Arise, Sow in the Morn Thy Seed, Sweet Is the Time of Spring, The Thing My God Doth Hate, We Mourn for Those Who Toil.
Questions about Ah Whither Should I Go
What is the doh of Ah Whither Should I Go?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 Ah Whither Should I Go start on?
It starts on d (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Ah Whither Should I Go in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, John Wesley died in 1791, George Job Elvey died in 1893; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1868. 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.