Heaven Is Here; Its Hymns of Gladness in Tonic Solfa
Heaven Is Here; Its Hymns of Gladness in Tonic Solfa to ST. OSWALD, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sHeaven--mislhere;-d'its- | thymns-lof-sglad--mness- |
| dCheer-dthe-rtrue-mbe-- | sliev--ler's-sway,--- |
| sIn--mthislworld-d'where- | tsin-land-ssad--sness- |
| sOf--d'ten-d'change-mto- | snight-rour-dday.--- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (B♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- ST. OSWALD
- Words
- John Greenleaf Adams
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune ST. OSWALD by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887). 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 Eb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Heaven is here; its hymns of gladness
Cheer the true believer's way,
In this world where sin and sadness
Often change to night our day.
Heaven is here; where misery lightened
Of its heavy load is seen,
Where the face of sorrow brightened
By the deed of love hath been:
Where the bound, the poor, despairing
Are set free, supplied and blest;
Where, in others' anguish sharing,
We can find our surest rest.
Where we heed the voice of duty
Rather than man's praise, or rod;
This is heaven, — its peace, its beauty,
Radiant with the smile of God.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 s (B♭).
- 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 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 Greenleaf Adams wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 419 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “Heaven Here”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Eights and Sevens (8.7.8.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ST. OSWALD; any other Eights and Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887)
- Music (1857): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune ST. OSWALD by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887).
Sung to the same tune: God Is Love; His Mercy Brightens, To Thy Cross and Resurrection.
Questions about Heaven Is Here; Its Hymns of Gladness
What is the doh of Heaven Is Here; Its Hymns of Gladness?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Heaven Is Here; Its Hymns of Gladness start on?
It starts on s (B♭ in Eb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Heaven Is Here; Its Hymns of Gladness in the public domain?
Yes. John Greenleaf Adams died in 1887, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1857. 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.