Gone Are the Shades of Night in Tonic Solfa
Gone Are the Shades of Night in Tonic Solfa to QUAM DILECTA, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mGone- | fare-mthe-mshades-rof- | dnight,-----sThe- |
| lhours-mof-rrest-dare- | ro’er;-----rNew- |
| mbeau--sties-sspark--lle- | sbright,-----rAnd- |
| mheaven-fis-mlight--ronce | dmore.----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- d to l (F to D, a sixth)
- Tune
- QUAM DILECTA
- Words
- Traditional Latin, John Brownlie
Tune QUAM DILECTA by Henry Lascelles Jenner (1820–1898); words by Traditional Latin; 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 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
Gone are the shades of night,
The hours of rest are o’er;
New beauties sparkle bright,
And heaven is light once more.
To Thee our prayers shall speed,
O Lord of light divine;
Come to our utmost need,
And in our darkness shine.
Spirit of love and light,
May we Thine image know,
And in Thy glory bright,
To full perfection grow.
Hear us, O Father blest,
Hear us, O Christ the Son,
And Comforter the best,
Now, and till life is done.
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), on the word “Gone”, 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. 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 Latin hymns of the early Church for Hymns of the Early Church (London, 1896), headed “Wednesday Morning”.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Sixes (6.6.6.6), and this page sets them to QUAM DILECTA; any other Sixes tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Latin
- Translated (1896): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Music (1861): Henry Lascelles Jenner (1820–1898)
Tune QUAM DILECTA by Henry Lascelles Jenner (1820–1898); words by Traditional Latin; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Because I Was Brought Low, Bring to the Christ Your Fears, Come, Mortals, Come Behold, Even as Thou Said'st, O Christ, Formed in Thine Image Bright, Hark! Through the Waking Earth, Let All the World Abroad, The God Who Reigns Alone, The Saffron Tints Appear.
Questions about Gone Are the Shades of Night
What is the doh of Gone Are the Shades of Night?
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 Gone Are the Shades of Night start on?
It starts on m (A in F major), a pickup on the word “Gone” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Gone Are the Shades of Night in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, Henry Lascelles Jenner died in 1898; the words were in print by 1896 and the music in 1861. 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.