Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord in Tonic Solfa
Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord in Tonic Solfa to INNOCENTS, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 6 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mHark,--fmy | ssoul!-d'it-tis-lthe- | sLord;---d'Tis--rthy |
| mSa--svior,-fhear-mhis- | rword;---mJe---fsus |
| sspeaks,-d'and-tspeaks-lto- | sthee;---d"Say,--rpoor |
| msin--fner,-mlov'st-rthou- | dme?--- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- INNOCENTS
- Words
- William Cowper
- Music
- French Melody, 13th cent., ascr., George Frederick Handel, The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by William Cowper (1731–1800). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Hark, my soul! it is the Lord;
'Tis thy Savior, hear his word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee;
"Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?
I delivered thee when bound,
And, when wounded, healed thy wound;
Sought thee wand'ring, set thee right,
Turned thy darkness into light."
Can a woman's tender care
Cease, towards the child she bare?
Yes, she may forgetful be,
Yet will I remember thee.
"Mine is an unchanging love;
Higher than the heights above;
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.
Thou shalt see my glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of my throne shalt be,
Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?"
Lord it is my chief complaint,
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love thee and adore,
Oh for grace to love thee more!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (F♯), on the word “Hark”, 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. 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
William Cowper wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book I, hymn 118, “Lovest thou me? Jn 21:16”.
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 INNOCENTS; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Cowper (1731–1800)
- Melody: French Melody, 13th cent.
- Music (1728): ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined)
- Melody (1850): The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by William Cowper (1731–1800).
Sung to the same tune: Day by Day the Manna Fell, Forest Beasts, That Live by Prey, God of Mercy, Hear Our Prayer, Hail, All Hail the Joyful Morn, Hail, Thou Blessed Cross, All Hail, In the Dark of Early Morn, In Thy Courts Let Peace Be Found, Lord, My Times Are in Thy Hand, Peace! the Welcome Sound Proclaim, Seems It in My Anguish Lone, Sinners, Turn; Why Will Ye Die, Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled, Softly Fades the Twilight Ray, Songs of Praise the Angels Sang, They, Who on the Lord Rely, To Thy Temple I Repair, When Before Thy Throne We Kneel, Winter Has a Joy for Me.
Questions about Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord
What is the doh of Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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, My Soul! It Is the Lord start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “Hark” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord in the public domain?
Yes. William Cowper died in 1800, ascr., George Frederick Handel died in undefined; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1728. 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.