Forever with the Lord in Tonic Solfa
Forever with the Lord in Tonic Solfa to FRANCONIA, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 7 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dFor-- | rev--mer-fwith-sthe- | mLord!-----sSo,- |
| lFa--d'ther,-flet-mit- | rbe;-----sLife- |
| d'from-tthe-ldead-sis- | lin-lthat-sword,-s'Tis- |
| dim--mmor--rtal--ri-- | dty.----- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- FRANCONIA
- Words
- James Montgomery
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FRANCONIA by Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758); words by James Montgomery (1771–1854). 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 Eb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Forever with the Lord!
So, Father, let it be;
Life from the dead is in that word,
'Tis immortality.
Here in the body pent,
Absent from Thee I roam;
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day's march nearer home.
My Father's house on high!
Home of my soul, how near
At times to faith's foreseeing eye
Thy golden gates appear!
I hear at morn and even,
At noon and midnight hour,
The choral harmonies of heaven
Earth's Babel-tongues o'erpower.
And then I feel, that He,
Remembered or forgot,
The Lord, is never far from me,
Though I perceive Him not.
Forever with the Lord!
Father, if 'tis Thy will,
The promise of that blessed word
Even here to me fulfil.
Be Thou at my right hand,
Then can I never fail;
Uphold Thou me, and I shall stand;
Help, and I must prevail.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 (E♭), on the first syllable of “Forever”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- 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
James Montgomery wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 231, “Forever with the Lord”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Short Metre (6.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to FRANCONIA; any other Short Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: James Montgomery (1771–1854)
- Music (1738): Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FRANCONIA by Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758); words by James Montgomery (1771–1854). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: "No More, on Earth No More, Behold the Lofty Sky, Blest Are the Pure in Heart, Come, All Harmonious Tongues, Father, This Slumber Shake, From Egypt Lately Freed, Glad Was My Heart to Hear, God, Who Is Just and Kind, How Sweet to Bless the Lord, How Swift the Torrent Rolls, Jesus Invites His Friends, Jesus, the Friend of Man, Let Every Creature Join, My Father! Cheering Name, O! Know Ye Not That Ye, Our Heavenly Father Calls, Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well, Saviour, Thy Law We Love, Shall Wisdom Cry Aloud, The Lord on High Proclaims, The Year Begins with Thee, This Soul Reviving Wine, To God the Only Wise, Well, the Redeemer's Gone, Within the Father's House.
Questions about Forever with the Lord
What is the doh of Forever with the Lord?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Forever with the Lord start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Forever” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Forever with the Lord in the public domain?
Yes. James Montgomery died in 1854, Johann Balthasar König died in 1758; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1738. 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.