Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds in Tonic Solfa
Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds in Tonic Solfa to SELENA, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sFa--sther-sof- | llights,-----sfrom-swhom-fepro-- | sceeds-----tWhat--te'er-d'thy- |
| r'ev------d'ery-d'crea--tture- | d'needs,-----sWhose-sgood--sness,- |
| lprov------si--sdent--fely- | snigh,-----tHeeds-tthe-d'young- |
| r'ra------d'vens-d'when-tthey- | d'cry,-----m'To-m'thee-m'I- |
| f'look;-----m'my-r'heart-d'pre-- | lpare,-----lSug--lgest,-land- |
| shear--sken-sto---smy--- | sprayer.----- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- s (E♭)
- Range
- fe to f' (E𝄫 to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- SELENA
- Words
- Charles Wesley, John Wesley
- Music
- Isaac B. Woodbury
Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) or John Wesley (1703–1791). 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 · 3/2
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 of lights, from whom proceeds
Whate'er thy every creature needs,
Whose goodness, providently nigh,
Heeds the young ravens when they cry,
To thee I look; my heart prepare,
Suggest, and hearken to my prayer.
Since by thy light myself I see
Naked, and poor, and void of thee,
Thy eyes must all my thoughts survey,
Preventing what my lips would say;
Thou seest my wants, for help they call,
And ere I speak thou know'st them all.
Thou know'st the baseness of my mind,
Wayward, and impotent, and blind;
Thou know'st how unsubdued my will,
Averse from good and prone to ill;
Thou know'st now wide my passions rove,
Nor checked by fear, nor charmed by love!
Fain would I know, as known by thee,
And feel the indigence I see;
Fain would I all my vileness own,
And deep beneath the burden groan;
Abhor the pride that lurks within,
Detest and loathe myself and sin.
Ah! give me, Lord, myself to feel,
My total misery reveal;
Ah! give me, Lord (I still would say)
A heart to mourn, a heart to pray;
My business this, my only care,
My life, my every breath, be prayer.
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 s (E♭), on the first syllable of “Father”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/2 means three 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 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 Wesley printed these words in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 99. They first appeared in a book he and his brother Charles published together, and the Collection's own index cannot say which of the two wrote them.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Long Metre, six lines (8.8.8.8.8.8), and this page sets them to SELENA; any other Long Metre, six lines tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Words: John Wesley (1703–1791)
- Music (1850): Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858)
Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) or John Wesley (1703–1791).
Sung to the same tune: Above, Below, Where'er I Gaze, Afflicted by a Gracious God, All Things Are Possible to Him, Around Bethesda's Healing Wave, Behold the Servant of the Lord, Blest Who with Generous Pity Glows, Captain of Our Salvation, Take, Come, O Thou Universal Good, Creator Spirit, by Whose Light, Father of Everlasting, Grace, God Sent Me to the Desert Wild, Hark! upon the Morning Breezes, I Brought My Darkest Sin to Mind, I Brought My Merits to the Throne, I Praised the Earth in Beauty Seen, I Sought the Lord at Early Morn, If Listening, as I Listen Still, Jesu, If Still the Same Thou Art, Jesus, Thou Source of Calm Repose, Join, All Ye Servants of the Lord, Lord of the Sea! — Thy Potent Sway, O 'Tis Enough, My God, My God, O Come, Thou Radiant Morning Star, O Let My Trembling Soul Be Still, O Lord of Bounty, Let This Bread, O Lord, Whose Bounteous Hand Again, O Love, I Languish at Thy Stay, O Thou Whom Fain My Soul Would Love, O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find, Our Earth We Now Lament to See, Peace, Troubled Soul, Whose Plaintive Moan, Strange and Mysterious Is My Life, The Heavens, O Lord! Thy Power Proclaim, The Promise Which the Saviour Made, Thou God Unsearchable, Unknown, Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose, Thou, Lord, on Whom I Still Depend, To Thee, My God! to Thee I Bring, Unless the Lord Had Been My Stay, Watched by the World's Malignant Eye, Weary of Wandering from My God, What Must It Be to Dwell Above, What Shall I Do My God to Love, When Quiet in My House I Sit, When Streaming from the Eastern Skies, When Thou Wert Crucified by Men, Would Jesus Have the Sinner Die.
Questions about Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds
What is the doh of Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds?
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 of Lights, from Whom Proceeds start on?
It starts on s (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Father” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, John Wesley died in 1791, Isaac B. Woodbury died in 1858; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1850. 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.