God Sent Me to the Desert Wild in Tonic Solfa
God Sent Me to the Desert Wild in Tonic Solfa to SELENA, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sGod-ssent-sme- | lto-----sthe-sdes--feert- | swild,-----tWhere-tall-d'is- |
| r'parched-----d'with-d'end--tless- | d'drought,-----sFor-sI-shad- |
| lgrown-----sa-sway--feward- | schild,-----tAnd-tnow-d'my- |
| r'sin-----d'had-d'found-tme- | d'out;-----m'He-m'sent-m'me- |
| f'to-----m'the-r'des--d'ert- | ldrear,-----lAnd,-lah!-lmy- |
| ssoul-swas-scharged---swith--- | sfear.----- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- s (E♭)
- Range
- fe to f' (E𝄫 to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- SELENA
- Words
- Traditional Greek, John Brownlie
- Music
- Isaac B. Woodbury
Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925). 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 · 3/2
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
God sent me to the desert wild,
Where all is parched with endless drought,
For I had grown a wayward child,
And now my sin had found me out; —
He sent me to the desert drear,
And, ah! my soul was charged with fear.
I wandered where the brooks were dry,
While memory wove a dismal song,
And to my God I raised my cry,
And sang my dirge the whole day long; —
For I was in the desert drear,
And, ah! my soul was charged with fear.
The God of grace His comfort sent,
And soon the desert blossomed fair,
While round my path, where'er I went,
Sweet flowers poured forth their odours rare; —
He sent me to a desert drear,
Now flowers and luscious fruits appear.
O God, when by the path of sin,
We reach the land where famine reigns;
And dread possesses all within,
And all around are woes and pains; —
Then make the world a desert rare,
Of joys upspringing everywhere.
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 s (E♭), on the word “God”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/2 means three minim 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 Brownlie translated these words from the Greek service books for Hymns from the East (Paisley, in print by 1911).
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Long Metre, six lines (8.8.8.8.8.8), and this page sets them to SELENA; any other Long Metre, six lines tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Greek
- Translated (by 1911): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Music (1850): Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858)
Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Above, Below, Where'er I Gaze, Afflicted by a Gracious God, All Things Are Possible to Him, Around Bethesda's Healing Wave, Behold the Servant of the Lord, Blest Who with Generous Pity Glows, Captain of Our Salvation, Take, Come, O Thou Universal Good, Creator Spirit, by Whose Light, Father of Everlasting, Grace, Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds, Hark! upon the Morning Breezes, I Brought My Darkest Sin to Mind, I Brought My Merits to the Throne, I Praised the Earth in Beauty Seen, I Sought the Lord at Early Morn, If Listening, as I Listen Still, Jesu, If Still the Same Thou Art, Jesus, Thou Source of Calm Repose, Join, All Ye Servants of the Lord, Lord of the Sea! — Thy Potent Sway, O 'Tis Enough, My God, My God, O Come, Thou Radiant Morning Star, O Let My Trembling Soul Be Still, O Lord of Bounty, Let This Bread, O Lord, Whose Bounteous Hand Again, O Love, I Languish at Thy Stay, O Thou Whom Fain My Soul Would Love, O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find, Our Earth We Now Lament to See, Peace, Troubled Soul, Whose Plaintive Moan, Strange and Mysterious Is My Life, The Heavens, O Lord! Thy Power Proclaim, The Promise Which the Saviour Made, Thou God Unsearchable, Unknown, Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose, Thou, Lord, on Whom I Still Depend, To Thee, My God! to Thee I Bring, Unless the Lord Had Been My Stay, Watched by the World's Malignant Eye, Weary of Wandering from My God, What Must It Be to Dwell Above, What Shall I Do My God to Love, When Quiet in My House I Sit, When Streaming from the Eastern Skies, When Thou Wert Crucified by Men, Would Jesus Have the Sinner Die.
Questions about God Sent Me to the Desert Wild
What is the doh of God Sent Me to the Desert Wild?
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 God Sent Me to the Desert Wild start on?
It starts on s (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the word “God” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is God Sent Me to the Desert Wild in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, Isaac B. Woodbury died in 1858; the words were in print by 1911 and the music in 1850. 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.