Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste in Tonic Solfa

Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste in Tonic Solfa to ALL SAINTS, NEW, doh is Bb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Bb4/4

sA--

mmid--fsur-sround--d'ing-

d'gloom--tandtwaste,-d'From-

r'na--m'ture's-f'face-m'we-

r'flee;-----r'And-

m'in--r'ourd'fear-tand-

twon---lderlhaste-lO-

sna--d'ture's-tlife,--d'to

d'thee!-----d'Thy-

d'ways-d'are-tin-tthe-

lmight---lyldeep;-lIn-

stem--spests-sas-sthey-

sblow;-----fIn-

mfloods--fthatso'er-d'our-

d'trea---tsurestsweep;-d'The-

m'light--r'ning;-d'and-tthe-

d'snow.-----

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Key: Bb major
Doh: Bb
Time: 4/4
Starts on: s (F)
Range: m to f' (D to E♭, a ninth)
Tune: ALL SAINTS, NEW
Words: Edwin Hubbell Chapin
Music: Henry Stephen Cutler

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880). 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 Bb · 4/4

| s - A-| m - - f s - d' - mid surrounding| d' - - t t - d' - |gloom and waste, From

| r' - m' - f' - m' - nature's face we| r' - - - - - r' - |flee; And

| m' - - r' d' - t - in our fear and| t - - l l - l - |wonder haste O

| s - d' - t - - d' nature's life, to| d' - - - - - d' - |thee! Thy

| d' - d' - t - t - ways are in the| l - - l l - l - |mighty deep; In

| s - s - s - s - tempests as they| s - - - - - f - |blow; In

| m - - f s - d' - floods that o'er our| d' - - t t - d' - |treasures sweep; The

| m' - r' - d' - t - lightning; and the| d' - - - - - |snow.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in Bb major, with the first verse under the notes.

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

Amid surrounding gloom and waste,
From nature's face we flee;
And in our fear and wonder haste
O nature's life, to thee!
Thy ways are in the mighty deep;
In tempests as they blow;
In floods that o'er our treasures sweep;
The lightning; and the snow.

Though earth upon its axis reels,
And heaven is veiled in wrath;
Not one of nature's million wheels
Breaks its appointed path;
Fixed in thy grasp, the sources meet
Of beauty and of awe;
In storm or calm, all pulses beat
True to the central law.

Thou art that law, whose will thus done
In seeming wreck and blight,
Sends the calm planets round the sun,
And pours the moon's soft light.
We trust thy love; thou best dost know
The universal peace;
How long the stormy force should blow,
And when the flood should cease.

And though around our path some form
Of mystery ever lies,
And life is like the calm and storm
That checker earth and skies,
Through all its mingling joy and dread,
Permit us, Holy One,
By faith to see the golden thread
Of thy great purpose run.

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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 s (F), on the first syllable of “Amid”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
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. 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

Edwin Hubbell Chapin wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 994 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “During or after a Great Storm”.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre Double (8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ALL SAINTS, NEW; any other Common Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Words: Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880)
Music (1872): Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902)

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880).

Sung to the same tune: All Nature's Works His Praise Declare, Father, When O'er Our Trembling Hearts, God of All Grace and Majesty, I Looked upon the Righteous Man, Jesus, My Master and My Lord, Lord, Soothe My Anxious, Troubled Soul, Now Gird Your Patient Loins Again, O Where Are Kings and Empires Now, O, Not Alone with Outward Sign, O, Who Shall See the Glorious Day, Oh! Not Alone with Outward Sign, Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears, The Aged Sufferer Waited Long, Thy Servants in the Temple Watched, When, on Devotion's Seraph Wing.

Questions about Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste

What is the doh of Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste?

In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste start on?

It starts on s (F in Bb major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Amid” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste in the public domain?

Yes. Edwin Hubbell Chapin died in 1880, Henry Stephen Cutler died in 1902; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1872. 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.