Hark! What Celestial Notes in Tonic Solfa

Hark! What Celestial Notes in Tonic Solfa to DARWALL, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is D4/4

dHark!-

mwhat-dce--sles--mtial-

d'notes,-----tWhat-

lmel--so--fdy,-mwe-

rhear!-----rSoft-

mon-dthe-lmorn-sit-

fefloats,-rAnd-r'fills-d'the-

trav----lished---

sear.-----sThe-

ltune----tful---

d'shell,-----dThe-

rgol--mden-flyre,-sAnd-

lvo--tcal-d'choir,-r'The-

d'con----tcert---

d'swell.-----

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Key: D major
Doh: D
Time: 4/4
Starts on: d (D)
Range: d to r' (D to E, a ninth)
Tune: DARWALL
Words: Anonymous
Music: John Darwall

Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune DARWALL by John Darwall (1731–1789); 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 D · 4/4

| d - Hark!| m - d - s - m - what celestial| d' - - - - - t - |notes, What

| l - s - f - m - melody, we| r - - - - - r - |hear! Soft

| m - d - l - s - on the morn it| fe - r - r' - d' - |floats, And fills the

| t - - - l - - - ravished| s - - - - - s - |ear. The

| l - - - t - - - tuneful| d' - - - - - d - |shell, The

| r - m - f - s - golden lyre, And| l - t - d' - r' - |vocal choir, The

| d' - - - t - - - concert| d' - - - - - |swell.

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! what celestial notes,
What melody, we hear!
Soft on the morn it floats,
And fills the ravished ear.
The tuneful shell,
The golden lyre,
And vocal choir,
The concert swell.

Angelic hosts descend,
With harmony divine;
See, how from heaven they bend,
And in full chorus join!
"Fear not," say they;
Jesus, your King,
"Great joy we bring:
Is born to day."

"Glory to God on high!
Ye mortals, spread the sound,
And let your raptures fly
To earth's remotest bound!
For peace on earth,
From God in heaven,
To man is given,
At Jesus' birth."

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 d (D), 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 and the chromatic fe. 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 207 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “The Same”, where the book credits them to the Salisbury Collection.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Hallelujah Metre (6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to DARWALL; any other Hallelujah Metre tune fits them as well.

Words: Anonymous
Music (1770): John Darwall (1731–1789)

Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune DARWALL by John Darwall (1731–1789); words by Anonymous. 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: A Worldling Spent Each Day, All, from the Sun's Uprise, Amazing, Beauteous Change, Before Elisha's Gate, Encouraged by Thy Word, I Have No Tears to Shed, Israel in Ancient Days, Lord of the Worlds Above, On What Has Now Been Sown, Rejoice, the Lord Is King, Thou Fount of Love and Grace, To Thee, Our God, We Fly, Ye Realms Below the Skies, Young Men and Maidens, Raise.

Questions about Hark! What Celestial Notes

What is the doh of Hark! What Celestial Notes?

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! What Celestial Notes start on?

It starts on d (D in D major), a pickup on the word “Hark” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.

Is Hark! What Celestial Notes in the public domain?

Yes. John Darwall died in 1789; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1770. 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.