Come, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing in Tonic Solfa
Come, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing 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,---twithlthe | sload-sof-ssor-- | lrow-d'thou-lart- | lbear--sing,--- |
| m'Lay---r'itr'on | d'Him---twhotev- | lery-sbur--feden- | sbears;----- |
| d'Let---tnotlthy | ssoul-sin-strou-- | f'ble-f'sink-m'de-- | m'spair--r'ing,--- |
| s'He---m'whof'hath | s'sor--trowed,-d'ev-- | f'ery-m'sor--r'row- | d'shares.----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- 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
- Traditional Greek, John Brownlie
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune WESLEY (MASON) by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925). 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, with the load of sorrow thou art bearing,
Lay it on Him who every burden bears;
Let not thy soul in trouble sink despairing,
He who hath sorrowed, every sorrow shares.
Look for the morn when night is dark and weary,
Morning shall come when hours of night are spent;
Clouds hide the sun, and make the noontide dreary,
Gladness shall cheer you when the clouds are rent.
Look for His smile who gilds the hills at morning,
Surely it comes as comes the morning sun;
Beauty shall grace thy life with bright adorning,
Even as the sunlight, till thy day is done.
Then, when the morn that makes the hilltops golden
Round the Jerusalem thy spirit gains
Breaks on thy view, shall come the gladness olden
Shared by the dwellers in those blest domains.
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
John Brownlie translated these words from the Greek service books for Hymns from the Greek Office Books (Paisley, 1904).
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Elevens and Tens (11.10.11.10), and this page sets them to WESLEY (MASON); any other Elevens and Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Greek
- Translated (1904): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Music (1833): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune WESLEY (MASON) by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning, Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather, Lo, in Its Brightness the Morning Arising.
Questions about Come, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing
What is the doh of Come, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing?
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, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing start on?
It starts on d' (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d'.
Is Come, with the Load of Sorrow Thou Art Bearing in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1904 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.