Help Me, O Lord! Behold, I Enter in Tonic Solfa
Help Me, O Lord! Behold, I Enter in Tonic Solfa to NEUMARK, doh is Bb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| m,Help-l,me,-t,O- | dLord!---t,Be-- | l,hold,---t,I- | se,en--m,ter--- |
| s,Up--s,on-f,an-- | m,oth----l,er- | l,year---se,to- | l,day;----- |
| m,In-l,Thee-t,my- | dhopes---t,and- | l,thoughts---t,now- | se,cen--m,ter,--- |
| s,Re--s,new-f,my- | m,cou----l,rage- | l,for---se,the- | l,way:----- |
| t,New-dlife,-rnew- | mstrength,---mnew- | rhapp----ri-- | dness----- |
| dI-t,ask-l,of- | se,Thee,---l,O- | l,hear---se,and- | l,bless!--- |
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- Key
- G minor
- Doh
- Bb
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- m, (D)
- Range
- m, to m (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- NEUMARK
- Music
- Georg Neumark
Tune NEUMARK by Georg Neumark (died undefined); words by Johann Rist (1607–1667); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). 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 Bb · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Help me, O Lord! Behold, I enter
Upon another year to-day;
In Thee my hopes and thoughts now center,
Renew my courage for the way:
New life, new strength, new happiness
I ask of Thee, O hear and bless!
May every plan and undertaking
This year be all begun with Thee;
When I am sleeping or am waking,
Still let me know Thou art with me;
Abroad do Thou my footsteps guide,
At home be ever at my side.
Be this a time of grace and pardon;
Thy rod I take with willing mind,
But suffer naught my heart to harden;
O let me now Thy mercy find;
In Thee alone, my God, I live,
Thou only canst my sins forgive.
And may this year to me be holy;
Thy grace so fill my every thought
That all my life be pure and lowly
And truthful as a Christian’s ought;
So make me, while yet dwelling here,
Pious and blest from year to year.
And grant, Lord, when the year is over,
That it for me in peace may close;
In all things care for me and cover
My head in time of fear and woes;
So may I, when my years are gone,
Appear with joy before Thy throne.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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, (D).
- Count the time. 3/4 means three 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 se. 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
Johann Rist wrote these words in German. Catherine Winkworth's translation was printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 171.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked 9.8.9.8.8.8, to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to NEUMARK; any other 9.8.9.8.8.8 tune fits them as well.
- Words: Johann Rist (1607–1667)
- Translated: Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)
- Music (1657): Georg Neumark (died undefined)
Tune NEUMARK by Georg Neumark (died undefined); words by Johann Rist (1607–1667); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878).
Questions about Help Me, O Lord! Behold, I Enter
What is the doh of Help Me, O Lord! Behold, I Enter?
In this version, in G minor, doh is Bb. 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 Help Me, O Lord! Behold, I Enter start on?
It starts on m, (D in G minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m,.
Is Help Me, O Lord! Behold, I Enter in the public domain?
Yes. Johann Rist died in 1667, Catherine Winkworth died in 1878, Georg Neumark died in undefined; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1657. 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.