For the Beauty of the Earth in Tonic Solfa
For the Beauty of the Earth in Tonic Solfa to DIX, doh is G: the solfa with the words, staff notation, five verses and a piano.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (G)
- Range
- s, to s (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- DIX
- Words
- Folliott Sandford Pierpoint
- Music
- Conrad Kocher, William Henry Monk
Tune DIX by Conrad Kocher (1786–1872) and William Henry Monk (1823–1889); words by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1835–1917). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dFor-t,thed_rbeau--dty- | fof-fthe-mearth,--- |
| l,For-t,the-dglo--l,ry- | s,of-s,the-s,skies,--- |
| dFor-t,thed_rlove-dwhich- | ffrom-four-mbirth--- |
| l,O--t,ver-dand-l,a-- | s,round-s,us-s,lies:--- |
| mLord-rof-dall,-mto- | sThee--fwemraise--- |
| l,This-t,our-dhymn-fof- | mgrate--rful-dpraise.--- |
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 G · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:
Refrain
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light:
For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight:
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love:
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G 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 (G).
- 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. 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
Folliott Pierpoint, an English schoolteacher and poet, wrote this hymn of thanksgiving in 1864. The tune DIX is Conrad Kocher's melody of 1838, shortened by William Henry Monk for Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861.
- Words (1864): Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1835–1917)
- Melody (1838): Conrad Kocher (1786–1872)
- Adapted (1861): William Henry Monk (1823–1889)
Tune DIX by Conrad Kocher (1786–1872) and William Henry Monk (1823–1889); words by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1835–1917).
Sung to the same tune: As with Gladness Men of Old.
Questions about For the Beauty of the Earth
What is the doh of For the Beauty of the Earth?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. 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 For the Beauty of the Earth start on?
It starts on d (G in G major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is For the Beauty of the Earth in the public domain?
Yes. Folliott Sandford Pierpoint died in 1917, Conrad Kocher died in 1872, William Henry Monk died in 1889; the words were first published in 1864 and the music in 1838. 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.