Hail to the Lord's Anointed in Tonic Solfa
Hail to the Lord's Anointed in Tonic Solfa to EWING, doh is C: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dHail- | rto-dthe-fLord's-mA-- | rnoint----ded,-mGreat- |
| sDa--d'vid's-tgreat--seer- | lSon!-----lHail!- |
| sin-mthe-mtime-rap-- | dpoint----red-mHis- |
| mreign-mon-rearth-dbe-- | rgun!-----rHe- |
| fcomes-mto-lbreak-top-- | d'pres----r'sion,-sTo- |
| m'set--m'ther'cap--d'tive- | tfree,-----lTo- |
| stake-ma--mway-rtrans-- | dgres----rsion,-mAnd- |
| mrule-min-req---dui- | dty.----- |
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- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (C)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- EWING
- Words
- James Montgomery
- Music
- Alexander C. Ewing
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EWING by Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895); 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 C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
Great David's greater Son!
Hail! in the time appointed
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
He shall descend like showers
Upon the fruitful earth,
And love and joy, like flowers,
Spring in his path to birth;
Before him, on the mountains,
Shall peace, the herald, go;
And righteousness, in fountains,
From hill to valley flow.
For him shall prayer unceasing
And daily vows ascend,
His kingdom still increasing, —
A kingdom without end:
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove:
His name shall stand forever; —
That name to us is love.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 (C), on the word “Hail”, 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 and the chromatic se. 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 Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 288 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “Blessings of Christ's Kingdom”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens and Sixes Double (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to EWING; any other Sevens and Sixes Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: James Montgomery (1771–1854)
- Music (1853): Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EWING by Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895); 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: "Remember Thy Creator", Jerusalem the Golden, Let Me Be Thine Forever, O Living Bread from Heaven, O Word of God Incarnate, Our Father — Ever Living, The Joy of Earth Is Fleeting.
Questions about Hail to the Lord's Anointed
What is the doh of Hail to the Lord's Anointed?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Hail to the Lord's Anointed start on?
It starts on d (C in C major), a pickup on the word “Hail” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Hail to the Lord's Anointed in the public domain?
Yes. James Montgomery died in 1854, Alexander C. Ewing died in 1895; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1853. 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.