Gently Fall the Dews of Eve in Tonic Solfa

Gently Fall the Dews of Eve in Tonic Solfa to HEINLEIN, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 2 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is F4/4
mGen--mtly-l,fall-t,the-ddews-rof-meve,---
mRais--ming-sstill-sthe-felan--feguid-mflowers;---
mSweet--mly-fflow-fthe-rtears-rthat-mgrieve---
mO'er-ma-rmourn--der's-t,strick--t,en-l,hours.---

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Key
D minor
Doh
F
Time
4/4
Starts on
m (A)
Range
l, to s (D to C, a seventh)
Tune
HEINLEIN
Words
Sarah Flower Adams
Music
Martin Herbst, Nurnberg

Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (died undefined); words by Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848). 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 F · 4/4

| m - m - l, - t, - Gently fall the| d - r - m - - - |dews of eve,
| m - m - s - s - Raising still the| fe - fe - m - - - |languid flowers;
| m - m - f - f - Sweetly flow the| r - r - m - - - |tears that grieve
| m - m - r - d - O'er a mourner's| t, - t, - l, - - - |stricken hours.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in D minor, with the first verse under the notes.

The words

Gently fall the dews of eve,
Raising still the languid flowers;
Sweetly flow the tears that grieve
O'er a mourner's stricken hours.

Blessed dews and tears that yet
Lift us nearer unto heaven!
Let us still His praise repeat,
Who in mercy all hath given.

How to sing it from the solfa

  • Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 m (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 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

Sarah Flower Adams 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 335, “Dews and Tears”.

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 HEINLEIN; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.

Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (died undefined); words by Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848).

Sung to the same tune: All Ye Nations, Praise the Lord, As the Sun's Enliv'ning Eye, Bless, O Lord, Each Opening Year, Child, Amidst the Flowers at Play, Clay to Clay, and Dust to Dust, Father! We Look Up to Thee, Forty Days and Forty Nights, Heavenly Father! to Whose Eye, High, in Yonder Realms of Light, Jesu, Shall I Never Be, Let Me Dwell on Golgotha, Light Is Dawning 'Mong the Hills, Lord! Subdue Our Selfish Will, Mighty One, Before Whose Face, Now the Shades of Night Are Gone, Praise, O Praise Our God and King, See, the World for Youth Prepares, Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light, Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth, Thine Forever, God of Love, Thou Who Roll’st the Year Around, While I Lived Without the Lord.

Questions about Gently Fall the Dews of Eve

What is the doh of Gently Fall the Dews of Eve?

In this version, in D minor, doh is F. 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 Gently Fall the Dews of Eve start on?

It starts on m (A in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.

Is Gently Fall the Dews of Eve in the public domain?

Yes. Sarah Flower Adams died in 1848, Martin Herbst died in undefined, Nurnberg died in undefined; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1676. 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.

More by Sarah Flower Adams

Everything by Sarah Flower Adams (5 hymns)

More by Martin Herbst

Everything by Martin Herbst (23 hymns and 1 hymn tune)

More by Nurnberg

Everything by Nurnberg (23 hymns and 1 hymn tune)