Hark! How Time's Wide Sounding Bell in Tonic Solfa
Hark! How Time's Wide Sounding Bell in Tonic Solfa to MESSIAH (HERALD), doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mHark!--rhowdtime's-dwide- | fsound---mingrbell--- |
| sStrikes--lonleach-sat-- | mten--dtive-rear!--- |
| mTol---rlingdloud-dthe- | fsol---memnrknell--- |
| sOf--ltheslate-mde-- | rpart---deddyear:--- |
| t,Years,--dlikermor--ftals,- | mwear--ra-dway,--- |
| rHave--mtheirfbirth,-land- | sdy---fingmday;--- |
| mYouth---rfuldspring,-dand- | fwin---mtryrage,--- |
| sThen--ltoso--mthers- | rquit--dthedstage.--- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- t, to l (E to D, a seventh)
- Tune
- MESSIAH (HERALD)
- Words
- John Newton
Tune MESSIAH (HERALD) by Louis J. F. Herold (died undefined) and George Kingsley (died undefined); words by John Newton (1725–1807). 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
Hark! how time's wide sounding bell
Strikes on each attentive ear!
Tolling loud the solemn knell
Of the late departed year:
Years, like mortals, wear away,
Have their birth, and dying day;
Youthful spring, and wintry age,
Then to others quit the stage.
Sad experience may relate
What a year the last has been!
Crops of sorrow have been great,
From the fruitful seeds of sin:
O! what numbers gay and blithe,
Fell by death's unsparing scythe?
While they thought the world their own,
Suddenly he mowed them down.
See how war, with dreadful stride,
Marches at the Lord'S command,
Spreading desolation wide,
Through a once much-favored land:
War, with heart and arms of steel,
Preys on thousands at a meal;
Daily drinking human gore,
Still he thirsts, and calls for more.
If the God, whom we provoke,
Hither should his way direct;
What a sin-avenging stroke
May a land, like this, expect!
They who now securely sleep,
Quickly then, would wake and weep;
And too late would learn to fear,
When they saw the danger near.
You are safe, who know his love,
He will all his truth perform;
To your souls a refuge prove
From the rage of every storm:
But we tremble for the youth;
Teach them, Lord, thy saving truth;
Join them to thy faithful few,
Be to them a refuge too.
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).
- 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
John Newton wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book II, hymn 5, “Death and war. 1778”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens Double (7.7.7.7.7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to MESSIAH (HERALD); any other Sevens Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Newton (1725–1807)
- Music (1839): Louis J. F. Herold (died undefined)
- Arranged (1839): George Kingsley (died undefined)
Tune MESSIAH (HERALD) by Louis J. F. Herold (died undefined) and George Kingsley (died undefined); words by John Newton (1725–1807).
Sung to the same tune: 'Tis My Happiness Below, Blessing, Honour, Thanks, and Praise, Bound upon the Accursed Tree, Come, and Let Us Sweetly Join, Faint the Earth, and Parched with Drought, God of Love, We Look to Thee, Grace, Triumphant in the Throne, Happy Man Whom God Doth Aid, Happy Soul Who Sees the Day, Jesus, We Thy Promise Claim, Let the Beasts Their Breath Resign, Lord! Thou Didst Arise and Say, Oft in Vain the Voice of Truth, Sinner, Art Thou Still Secure.
Questions about Hark! How Time's Wide Sounding Bell
What is the doh of Hark! How Time's Wide Sounding Bell?
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 Hark! How Time's Wide Sounding Bell start on?
It starts on m (A in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Hark! How Time's Wide Sounding Bell in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Louis J. F. Herold died in undefined, George Kingsley died in undefined; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1839. 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.