Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken in Tonic Solfa
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken in Tonic Solfa to AUSTRIA, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, four verses and a piano.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- s, to d' (C to F)
- Tune
- AUSTRIA
- Words
- John Newton
- Music
- Joseph Haydn
Tune AUSTRIA by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809); words by John Newton (1725–1807). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dGlo---rriousmthings-rof- | fthee-mare-rspo-t,_dken,- |
| lZi--son,-fcit--my- | rof-mourd_sGod;--- |
| dHe--rwhosemword-rcan-- | fnot-mbe-rbro-t,_dken- |
| lFormed-sthee-ffor-mHis- | rown-ma-d_sbode:--- |
| rOn-mthe-rRockt,_s,of- | fA--mges-rfound-t,_s,ed,- |
| sWhat-fcan-mshake--mthy | fesure--fere-spose?--- |
| d'With--tsal-lva--stion’s- | lwalls--ssur-sround-f_med,- |
| rThou-mmay’stf_ssmilel_fatr_ | dall-mthyr_dfoes.--- |
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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
Formed thee for His own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
See, the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear
For a glory and a covering,
Showing that the Lord is near:
Thus deriving from their banner
Light by night and shade by day,
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which He gives them when they pray.
Saviour, if of Zion’s city
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name:
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.
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 d (F).
- 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
John Newton, who also wrote Amazing Grace, published this hymn on Isaiah 33:20–21 in Olney Hymns (1779). The tune AUSTRIA is Joseph Haydn's melody of 1797, written as the Austrian emperor's anthem.
- Words, Olney Hymns (1779): John Newton (1725–1807)
- Melody (1797): Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)
Tune AUSTRIA by Joseph Haydn (1732–1809); words by John Newton (1725–1807).
Questions about Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
What is the doh of Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken?
In this version, in F major, 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 Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken start on?
It starts on d (F in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Joseph Haydn died in 1809; the words were first published in 1779 and the music in 1797. 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.