For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace in Tonic Solfa
For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace in Tonic Solfa to ST. BEES, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 7 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dFor-dThy-dmer---t,cy | l,and-t,Thy-dgrace,--- |
| rCon--rstant-mthrough-s,an-- | l,oth--rer-t,year,--- |
| rHear-four-msong--dof | t,thank--rful--dness;--- |
| dJe--rsus,-dour-dRe-- | ddeem---t,er,dhear!--- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A♭)
- Range
- s, to f (E♭ to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- ST. BEES
- Words
- Henry Downton
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Henry Downton (1818–1885). 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
For Thy mercy and Thy grace,
Constant through another year,
Hear our song of thankfulness;
Jesus, our Redeemer, hear!
Lo! our sins on Thee we cast,
Thee, our perfect Sacrifice,
And, forgetting all the past,
Press unto our glorious prize.
Dark the future; let Thy light
Guide us, bright and Morning Star:
Fierce our foes and hard the fight;
Arm us, Savior, for the war.
In our weakness and distress,
Rock of strength, be Thou our Stay;
In the pathless wilderness
Be our true and living Way.
Who of us death’s awful road
In the coming year shall tread?
With Thy rod and staff, O God,
Comfort Thou his dying bed.
Keep us faithful, keep us pure,
Keep us evermore Thine own;
Help, O help us to endure;
Fit us for the promised crown.
So within Thy palace gate
We shall praise, on golden strings,
Thee the only Potentate,
Lord of lords and King of kings.
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. 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 Downton wrote these words. They were printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 168.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens (7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ST. BEES; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Henry Downton (1818–1885)
- Music (1862): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Henry Downton (1818–1885).
Sung to the same tune: 'Tis a Point I Long to Know, "Give Us Room, That We May Dwell,", Children of the Heavenly King, Father, Hear Us When We Pray, Feeble, Helpless, How Shall I, Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky, Honey Though the Bee Prepares, Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord, Lord, We Come Before Thee Now, Lord! Deliver; Thou Canst Save, Nay, I Cannot Let Thee Go, Now Let Us Come Before Him, Now May Fervent Prayer Arise, Partners of a Glorious Hope, There's a Strife We All Must Wage, What a Mournful Life Is Mine, While the Stars Unnumbered Roll.
Questions about For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace
What is the doh of For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace?
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 For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace start on?
It starts on d (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace in the public domain?
Yes. Henry Downton died in 1885, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were in print by 1927 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.