Father of Boundless Grace in Tonic Solfa
Father of Boundless Grace in Tonic Solfa to DIADEMATA, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dFa--dtherdofmbound--mless- | lgrace,-----lThou- |
| shast-din-fpart-mful-- | rfilled-----rThy- |
| mpro--smise-lmade-sto- | feA--mdam'sr_srace,-d'In- |
| tGod-d'in--lcar--lnate- | ssealed.-----sA- |
| sfew-mfrom-rev--dery- | lland-----lAt- |
| lfirst-feto-mSa--rlem- | tcame,-----tAnd- |
| d'saw--tthelwon--sders- | fof-rthy-mhand,-sAnd- |
| fsaw-mthe-rtongues-rof- | dflame.------- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (D)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- DIADEMATA
- Words
- Charles Wesley
- Music
- George Job Elvey
Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Father of boundless grace,
Thou hast in part fulfilled
Thy promise made to Adam's race,
In God incarnate sealed.
A few from every land
At first to Salem came,
And saw the wonders of thy hand,
And saw the tongues of flame.
Yet still we wait the end,
The coming of our Lord;
The full accomplishment attend
Of thy prophetic word.
Thy promise deeper lies
In unexhausted grace,
And new-discovered worlds arise
To sing their Saviour's praise.
Beloved for Jesu's sake,
By him redeemed of old,
All nations must come in, and make
One undivided fold:
While gathered in by thee,
And perfected in one,
They all at once thy glory see
In thine eternal Son.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (D).
- 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
Charles Wesley wrote these words. His brother John printed them in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 460.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Short Metre Double (6.6.8.6.6.6.8.6), and this page sets them to DIADEMATA; any other Short Metre Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Melody (1868): George Job Elvey (1816–1893)
Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788).
Sung to the same tune: Ah Whither Should I Go, Ah, When Shall I Awake, And Am I Born to Die, Crown Him with Many Crowns, Equip Me for the War, Gracious Redeemer, Shake, Great Source of Life and Light, Hark! Hark! with Harps of Gold, I Want a Sober Mind, I Was a Wandering Sheep, I Will Not Yield My Sword, In Fellowship, Alone, It Is the Hour of Prayer, Jesu, We Look to Thee, Jesus, My Strength, My Hope, Lord, When at Thy Command, My God, My Strength, My Hope, My Sin Was Very Great, O God, in Mercy Hear, O That I Could Repent, O Thou Who Wouldst Not Have, O Unexhausted Grace, Soldiers of Christ, Arise, Sow in the Morn Thy Seed, Sweet Is the Time of Spring, The Thing My God Doth Hate, We Mourn for Those Who Toil.
Questions about Father of Boundless Grace
What is the doh of Father of Boundless Grace?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 of Boundless Grace start on?
It starts on d (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Father of Boundless Grace in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, George Job Elvey died in 1893; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1868. 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.