All Things Bright and Beautiful in Tonic Solfa
All Things Bright and Beautiful in Tonic Solfa to ALL THINGS BRIGHT: the solfa with the words, staff notation, the 6 verses and the refrain, and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| d'All-mthings-fbright-land- | sbeau---mti-dful,-mAll- | rcrea--ttures-tgreat-land- | ssmall,------- |
| d'All-mthings-fwise-land- | swon---mder-dful,-lThe- | sLord-d'God-mmade--rthem | dall.-----mEach- |
| rlit--stle-sflower--fethat | so----spens,-mEach- | rlit--stle-sbird--fethat | ssings,-----seHe- |
| lmade--ttheird'glow--ling- | fecol----sours,-mHe- | rmade--mtheirfeti--lny- | swings.------- |
| d'All-mthings-fbright-land- | sbeau---mti-dful,-mAll- | rcrea--ttures-tgreat-land- | ssmall,------- |
| d'All-mthings-fwise-land- | swon---mder-dful,-lThe- | sLord-d'God-mmade--rthem | dall.----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d' (C)
- Range
- d to d' (C to C, an octave)
- Tune
- ALL THINGS BRIGHT
- Music
- William Henry Monk
Tune ALL THINGS BRIGHT by William Henry Monk (1823–1889); words by Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–1895). 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 C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.
Refrain
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them, high or lowly,
And order’d their estate.
The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;—
The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,—
He made them every one;
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
We gather every day;—
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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' (C).
- 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 se. 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
Cecil Frances Alexander wrote the words, published in 1848. This page sets them to William Henry Monk’s tune of 1887, sung refrain first; many school hymn books use the tune ROYAL OAK instead.
- Words (1848): Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–1895)
- Music (1887): William Henry Monk (1823–1889)
Questions about All Things Bright and Beautiful
What is the doh of All Things Bright and Beautiful?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 All Things Bright and Beautiful start on?
It starts on d' (C in C major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d'.
Is All Things Bright and Beautiful in the public domain?
Yes. Cecil Frances Alexander died in 1895, William Henry Monk died in 1889; the words were first published in 1848 and the music in 1887. 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.