Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky in Tonic Solfa
Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky in Tonic Solfa to ST. BEES, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dHark!-da-dvoice--t,di- | l,vides-t,the-dsky!--- |
| rHap--rpy-mare-s,the- | l,faith--rful-t,dead,--- |
| rIn-fthe-mLord--dwho | t,sweet--rly-ddie!--- |
| dThey-rfrom-dall-dtheir- | dtoils--t,aredfreed.--- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A♭)
- Range
- s, to f (E♭ to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- ST. BEES
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Anonymous. 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 · 4/4
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
Hark! a voice divides the sky!
Happy are the faithful dead,
In the Lord who sweetly die!
They from all their toils are freed.
Ready for their glorious crown, —
Sorrows past and sins forgiven, —
Here they lay their burthen down,
Hallowed and made meet for heaven.
Yes! the Christian's course is run;
Ended is the glorious strife;
Fought the fight, the work is done;
Death is swallowed up in life.
When from flesh the spirit freed
Hastens homeward to return,
Mortals cry, "A man is dead!"
Angels sing, "A child is born!"
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 d (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. 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
These words were printed without an author's name in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 548 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “"Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord."”, where the book credits them to Wesley's Collection.
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 ST. BEES; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1862): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: 'Tis a Point I Long to Know, "Give Us Room, That We May Dwell,", Children of the Heavenly King, Father, Hear Us When We Pray, Feeble, Helpless, How Shall I, For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace, Honey Though the Bee Prepares, Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord, Lord, We Come Before Thee Now, Lord! Deliver; Thou Canst Save, Nay, I Cannot Let Thee Go, Now Let Us Come Before Him, Now May Fervent Prayer Arise, Partners of a Glorious Hope, There's a Strife We All Must Wage, What a Mournful Life Is Mine, While the Stars Unnumbered Roll.
Questions about Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky
What is the doh of Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky?
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 Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky start on?
It starts on d (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky in the public domain?
Yes. John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1862. 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.