Father! at This Altar Bending in Tonic Solfa
Father! at This Altar Bending in Tonic Solfa to ST. RAPHAEL, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dFa--dther!-t,at-dthis- | l,al---t,tardbend--s,ing,- |
| l,Set-t,our-dhearts-ffrom- | rworld--dthoughtsdfree;--- |
| dPrayer-dand-t,praise-dtheir- | din--rcense-mblend--t,ing,- |
| mMay--mourrrites-sac-- | fecept---sedsbe:--- |
| rFa--dther,-t,hear-s,us,- | l,Gen--t,tly-ddraw-mour- |
| rsouls---rto--- | dthee.------- |
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
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A♭)
- Range
- s, to s (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- ST. RAPHAEL
- Words
- Edwin Hubbell Chapin
- Music
- Edward John Hopkins
Tune ST. RAPHAEL by Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901); words by Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880). 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 · 4/4
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
Father! at this altar bending,
Set our hearts from world-thoughts free;
Prayer and praise their incense blending,
May our rites accepted be:
Father, hear us,
Gently draw our souls to thee.
Deign to smile upon this union
Of a pastor and a flock;
Sweet and blest be their communion:
May he sacred truths unlock —
And this people
Plant their feet on Christ the Rock.
Be his life a living sermon,
Be his thoughts one ceaseless prayer:
Like the dews that fell on Hermon,
Making green the foliage there,
May his teachings
Drop on souls beneath his care.
Here may Sin repent its straying,
Here may Grief forget to weep,
Here may Hope its light displaying,
And blest Faith, their vigils keep,
And the dying
Pass from hence in Christ to sleep.
When his heart shall cease its motion,
All its toils and conflicts o'er;
When they for an unseen ocean,
One by one, shall leave the shore;
Pastor, people, there — in heaven,
May they meet to part no more.
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. 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
Edwin Hubbell Chapin wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 717 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “The Same”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked 8.7.8.7.4.7, to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ST. RAPHAEL; any other 8.7.8.7.4.7 tune fits them as well.
- Words: Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880)
- Music (1862): Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901)
Tune ST. RAPHAEL by Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901); words by Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880).
Sung to the same tune: Ages, Ages Have Departed, Glory Be to God the Father.
Questions about Father! at This Altar Bending
What is the doh of Father! at This Altar Bending?
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 Father! at This Altar Bending start on?
It starts on d (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Father! at This Altar Bending in the public domain?
Yes. Edwin Hubbell Chapin died in 1880, Edward John Hopkins died in 1901; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1862. 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.