Come, Ye Disconsolate, Where'er Ye Languish in Tonic Solfa
Come, Ye Disconsolate, Where'er Ye Languish in Tonic Solfa to HENLEY, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 2 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sCome,---mye-mdis-- | mcon----rso---- |
| dlate,-dwher--re'er-rye- | mlan----dguish;--- |
| sCome,---mat-mthe- | mmer----dcy--- |
| rseat-dfer--rvent--mly- | dkneel:------- |
| rHere---rbring-myour- | fwoun----rded--- |
| mhearts,-mhere-mtell-fyour- | san----mguish;--- |
| sEarth---mhas-mno- | msor----drow--- |
| rthat-dheaven-rcan--mnot- | dheal.------- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 2/2
- Starts on
- s (B♭)
- Range
- d to s (E♭ to B♭, a fifth)
- Tune
- HENLEY
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune HENLEY 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 Eb · 2/2
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
Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish;
Come, at the mercy-seat fervently kneel:
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.
Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure,
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure.
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 s (B♭).
- Count the time. 2/2 means two minim 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 — only 5 different notes, so it is a good one for a choir new to solfa. 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 Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 575 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “Invitation to the Mercy-seat”, where the book credits them to the Spiritual Songs.
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 HENLEY; any other Elevens and Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1854): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune HENLEY by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: O, He Whom Jesus Loved Has Truly Spoken.
Questions about Come, Ye Disconsolate, Where'er Ye Languish
What is the doh of Come, Ye Disconsolate, Where'er Ye Languish?
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 Come, Ye Disconsolate, Where'er Ye Languish start on?
It starts on s (B♭ in Eb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Come, Ye Disconsolate, Where'er Ye Languish in the public domain?
Yes. Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1854. 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.