How Blest the Hearts in Tonic Solfa
How Blest the Hearts in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 10 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to f (D to C, a seventh)
- Tune
- HOLY MATRIMONY
- Words
- Christopher Wordsworth
- Music
- Henry Williams Baker
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune HOLY MATRIMONY by Henry Williams Baker (1821–1877); words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,How- | dblest--daremhearts,-dwhich- | rChrist-rthe-mLord-l,Cou-- |
| l,ples-l,as-s,with-da- | t,sil--dver-rcord,-rIn- |
| rnu--dptial-t,u--l,ni-- | s,ty:-----s,That- |
| t,a---dni-rma--fted- | mare-dby-rlove-l,And- |
| t,a---rspi-fra--mtions- | dfrom-ma--rbove,-fO- |
| mHo--l,ly-t,Ghost,-t,by- | dThee!----- |
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 WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is G · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
How blest are hearts, which Christ the Lord
Couples as with a silver cord,
In nuptial unity:
That animated are by love
And aspirations from above,
O Holy Ghost, by Thee!
When angels sang Creation's birth,
Man, fashioned from the dust of earth.
In Eden was alone;
But God made Eve from Adam's side
And brought her to him as a Bride,
And willed them to be one.
O holy wedlock ratified
In Heav'n a knot for life is tied
By God in Paradise!
O happiness beyond compare!
What tongues of Angels to declare
The blessedness sufice?
Anthems angelical were heard,
When Christ, the everlasting Word
To wed His Bride did come,
And take that consecrated Bride,
Cleansed by the lifeblood from His side,
Unto Her heav'nly home.
At Cana's feast that Heav'nly Guest
Did first His Godhead manifest,
And water change to wine;
In wedlock tears of sorr'wring earth
Are changed to wine of heav'nly mirth,
By pow'r and love divine.
Mirrored in nuptial purity
The marriage of the Church we see
And Christ the Bridegroom's Love;
Angels look down, and anthems sing,
The Holy Dove, the golden wing,
Sheds blessings from above.
Bless these Thy servants, gracious Lord,
Whom Thou dost join in sweet accord,
The bridegroom and the bride;
In sorrow, sickness, and in health
In tribulation and in wealth,
Be Thou their Help and Guide!
Be with them, Lord, as day by day
They with one heart together pray,
Thy Word together read,
Together at Thine altar kneel,
And with Thy Blood their union seal,
On Thee together feed.
May they forever have Thee near,
Making them to Thyself more dear,
And each to each in Thee;
So, when from earthly cares released,
May they at Thine own marriage feast
Be blest eternally!
D To Father, whose paternal Love
Sends benedictions from above,
Eternal praises be;
And God the Son, Incarnate Word,
With Holy Spirit be adored;
One God and Persons Three!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G 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, (D), 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. 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
The words are by Christopher Wordsworth, first published in 1865. The tune, HOLY MATRIMONY, is by Henry Williams Baker (1865). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1865): Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885)
- Music (1865): Henry Williams Baker (1821–1877)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune HOLY MATRIMONY by Henry Williams Baker (1821–1877); words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Questions about How Blest the Hearts
What is the doh of How Blest the Hearts?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. 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 the Hearts start on?
It starts on s, (D in G major), a pickup on the word “How” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is How Blest the Hearts in the public domain?
Yes. Christopher Wordsworth died in 1885, Henry Williams Baker died in 1877; the words were first published in 1865 and the music in 1865. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.