Come, Ye Thankful People, Come in Tonic Solfa
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come in Tonic Solfa to ST GEORGE’S WINDSOR, doh is F: the harvest hymn with the words, staff notation, four verses and a piano.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- s, to l (C to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- ST GEORGE’S WINDSOR
- Words
- Henry Alford
- Music
- George Job Elvey
Tune ST GEORGE’S WINDSOR by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Henry Alford (1810–1871). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mCome,--myesthank--mful- | dpeo--rple,-mcome,--- |
| mRaise--mthessong-mof- | dhar--rvest-mhome:--- |
| mAll--misfsafe--fly- | rgath---reredmin,--- |
| mEre-fethe-swin--dter- | t,storms-l,be--s,gin;--- |
| t,God,--t,ourrMak--t,er,- | ddoth-rpro--mvide--- |
| mFor--mourswants-mto- | fbe-ssup--lplied:--- |
| lCome--ltofGod’s-rown- | stem---sple,mcome,--- |
| fRaise-lthe-ssong-dof- | mhar--rvest-dhome.--- |
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 WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home:
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown:
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offences purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final harvest home:
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin;
There, for ever purified,
In Thy garner to abide:
Come, with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 m (A).
- 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 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
Henry Alford, later Dean of Canterbury, wrote this harvest hymn in 1844; most books print the version altered for Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861. George Job Elvey, organist of St George's Chapel, Windsor, wrote the tune in 1858. It is a favourite at harvest thanksgiving services.
- Words (1844), as altered in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861): Henry Alford (1810–1871)
- Melody (1858): George Job Elvey (1816–1893)
Tune ST GEORGE’S WINDSOR by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Henry Alford (1810–1871).
Questions about Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
What is the doh of Come, Ye Thankful People, Come?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. 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 Thankful People, Come start on?
It starts on m (A in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Come, Ye Thankful People, Come in the public domain?
Yes. Henry Alford died in 1871, George Job Elvey died in 1893; the words were first published in 1844 and the music in 1858. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.