How Blest, Amid All Blessing in Tonic Solfa
How Blest, Amid All Blessing in Tonic Solfa to GREENLAND, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mHow- | sblest,-sa--smid-sall- | d'bless----ming-mThis- |
| rchang--ring-fworld-fbe-- | mstows,-----rThat- |
| msoul-sin-struth-spos-- | d'sess----feing-fePi-- |
| sty-lfor-to--lthers'- | swoes;-----tRea-- |
| d'dy-sto-fmove-mand- | mlight----ren-tThe- |
| d'load-sa--ffflic--mtion- | rbears-----s,Want's- |
| dface-mwith-sjoy--seto | tbright----len,-lIn- |
| sdeed,-mas-mwith--rits | dprayers.----- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (G)
- Range
- s, to d' (B♭ to E♭)
- Tune
- GREENLAND
- Words
- John Greenleaf Adams
- Music
- Johann Michael Haydn, B. Jacob
Tune GREENLAND by Johann Michael Haydn (1737–1806) and B. Jacob (died undefined); 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
How blest, amid all blessing
This changing world bestows,
That soul in truth possessing
Pity for others' woes;
Ready to move and lighten
The load affliction bears —
Want's face with joy to brighten,
In deed, as with its prayers.
Thus Christ, the Friend and Servant
Of man, depressed and poor —
With ready soul and fervent —
With patience to endure —
Lived, labored without measure
In mercy's holy name,
God's will his highest pleasure,
Our good his only fame.
And those who in his spirit
Would seek to live and move,
His virtue must inherit,
And labor in his love;
Labor where poor, forsaken,
And lowly, sufferers lie;
In faith and hope unshaken;
Celestial ministry!
God of all times and stations!
Teach us this lesson true, —
Proclaim it to all nations
In life and power anew, —
That high above all praises —
All prayers — is that unfeigned,
Glad offering Mercy raises,
By living deeds sustained!
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 m (G), on the word “How”, 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 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
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 784 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “The Same”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens and Sixes Double (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to GREENLAND; any other Sevens and Sixes Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887)
- Music: Johann Michael Haydn (1737–1806)
- Arranged (National Psalmody, 1819): B. Jacob (died undefined)
Tune GREENLAND by Johann Michael Haydn (1737–1806) and B. Jacob (died undefined); words by John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887).
Sung to the same tune: Light of the Gentile Nations, O God of Our Salvation, Shall Men Pretend to Pleasure, The Heavens Declare His Glory, The Morning Light Is Breaking, We Come with Joy and Gladness, When Shall the Voice of Singing.
Questions about How Blest, Amid All Blessing
What is the doh of How Blest, Amid All Blessing?
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 How Blest, Amid All Blessing start on?
It starts on m (G in Eb major), a pickup on the word “How” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is How Blest, Amid All Blessing in the public domain?
Yes. John Greenleaf Adams died in 1887, Johann Michael Haydn died in 1806, B. Jacob died in undefined; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1819. 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.