Blest Are the Pure in Heart in Tonic Solfa
Blest Are the Pure in Heart in Tonic Solfa to FRANCONIA: the solfa with the words, staff notation, the four verses, and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dBlest- | rare-mthe-fpure-sin- | mheart,-----sFor- |
| lthey-d'shall-fsee-mour- | rGod;-----sThe- |
| d'se--tcret-lof-sthe- | lLord-lis-stheirs;-sTheir- |
| dsoul-mis-rChrist’s-ra-- | dbode.----- |
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Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- FRANCONIA
- Words
- John Keble, William John Hall
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FRANCONIA by Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758); words by John Keble (1792–1866) and William John Hall (1793–1861). 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 Eb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Blest are the pure in heart,
For they shall see our God;
The secret of the Lord is theirs;
Their soul is Christ’s abode.
The Lord, who left the heavens
Our life and peace to bring,
To dwell in lowliness with men
Their pattern and their king.
Still to the lowly soul
He doth Himself impart;
And for His cradle and His throne
Chooseth the pure in heart.
Lord, we Thy presence seek;
May ours this blessing be;
Give us a pure and lowly heart,
A temple meet for Thee.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 (E♭), on the word “Blest”, 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
John Keble wrote the first and third verses, dated 10 October 1819, as part of a longer poem published in The Christian Year in 1827; the second and fourth come from the Mitre Hymn Book (1836), edited by William John Hall. The tune FRANCONIA was published by Johann Balthasar König in 1738.
- Words, verses 1 and 3 (1819): John Keble (1792–1866)
- Verses 2 and 4, Mitre Hymn Book (1836): William John Hall (1793–1861)
- Music (1738): Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FRANCONIA by Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758); words by John Keble (1792–1866) and William John Hall (1793–1861). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: "No More, on Earth No More, Behold the Lofty Sky, Come, All Harmonious Tongues, Father, This Slumber Shake, Forever with the Lord, From Egypt Lately Freed, Glad Was My Heart to Hear, God, Who Is Just and Kind, How Sweet to Bless the Lord, How Swift the Torrent Rolls, Jesus Invites His Friends, Jesus, the Friend of Man, Let Every Creature Join, My Father! Cheering Name, O! Know Ye Not That Ye, Our Heavenly Father Calls, Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well, Saviour, Thy Law We Love, Shall Wisdom Cry Aloud, The Lord on High Proclaims, The Year Begins with Thee, This Soul Reviving Wine, To God the Only Wise, Well, the Redeemer's Gone, Within the Father's House.
Questions about Blest Are the Pure in Heart
What is the doh of Blest Are the Pure in Heart?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Blest Are the Pure in Heart start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the word “Blest” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Blest Are the Pure in Heart in the public domain?
Yes. John Keble died in 1866, William John Hall died in 1861, Johann Balthasar König died in 1758; the words were first published in 1836 and the music in 1738. 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.