Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather in Tonic Solfa
Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather in Tonic Solfa to WESLEY (MASON), doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| d'Come---tun-lto | sme,-swhen-ssha-- | ldows-d'dark--lly- | lga--sther,--- |
| m'When---r'ther'sad | d'heart---tistwea- | lry-sand-fedis-- | strest,----- |
| d'Seek----tinglfor | scom--sfort-sfrom- | f'your-f'Heav--m'enly- | m'Fa--r'ther,--- |
| s'Come---m'un-f'to | s'me,-tand-d'I- | f'will-m'give-r'you- | d'rest!----- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- d' (A♭)
- Range
- fe to s' (E𝄫 to E♭, a ninth)
- Tune
- WESLEY (MASON)
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune WESLEY (MASON) by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Anonymous. 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 Ab · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Come unto me, when shadows darkly gather,
When the sad heart is weary and distrest,
Seeking for comfort from your Heavenly Father,
Come unto me, and I will give you rest!
Ye who have mourned when the spring-flowers were taken,
When the ripe fruit fell richly to the ground,
When the loved slept, in brighter homes to waken,
Where their pale brows with spirit-wreaths are crowned;
Large are the mansions in thy Father's dwelling,
Glad are the homes that sorrows never dim;
Sweet are the harps in holy music swelling,
Soft are the tones which raise the heavenly hymn;
There, like an Eden blossoming in gladness,
Bloom the fair flowers the earth too rudely pressed;
Come unto me, all ye who droop in sadness,
Come unto me, and I will give you rest.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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' (A♭).
- 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 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
These words were printed without an author's name in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 160, “"Come unto Me."”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Elevens and Tens (11.10.11.10), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to WESLEY (MASON); any other Elevens and Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1833): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune WESLEY (MASON) by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning, Come, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing, Lo, in Its Brightness the Morning Arising.
Questions about Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather
What is the doh of Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather start on?
It starts on d' (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d'.
Is Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather in the public domain?
Yes. Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1833. 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.