How Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God in Tonic Solfa
How Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God in Tonic Solfa to GORDON, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dHow- | mdear---fis-fthe- | mthought--r_dthat-mthe- |
| ran----t,gels-t,of- | dGod-----dMay- |
| mbow---ftheir-fbright- | mwings--r_dto-mthe- |
| rworld---t,they-t,once- | dtrod;-----mWill- |
| sleave---lthe-ssweet- | fsongs-mof-r_-s,the- |
| mman--s_-fsions-ra-- | dbove---t,_-dTo- |
| mbreathe---fo'er-four- | mbo---r_dsoms-msome- |
| smes--f_-msage-rof- | dlove!----- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- s, to l (C to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- GORDON
- Words
- Anonymous
Tune GORDON by Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836–1895); 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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
How dear is the thought, that the angels of God
May bow their bright wings to the world they once trod;
Will leave the sweet songs of the mansions above,
To breathe o'er our bosoms some message of love!
They come, on the wings of the morning they come,
Impatient to lead some poor wanderer home;
Some sinner to save from his darkened abode,
And lay him to rest in the arms of his God.
They come when we wander, they come when we pray,
In mercy to guard us wherever we stray;
A glorious cloud, their bright witness is given;
Encircling us here are these angels of heaven.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 (F), 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
These words were printed without an author's name in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 355, “Are They Not All Ministering Spirits?”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Elevens (11.11.11.11), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to GORDON; any other Elevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1876): Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836–1895)
Tune GORDON by Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836–1895); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: Delay Not, Delay Not, O Sinner, Draw Near, My Jesus, I Love Thee.
Questions about How Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God
What is the doh of How Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. 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 Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God start on?
It starts on d (F in F major), a pickup on the word “How” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is How Dear Is the Thought, That the Angels of God in the public domain?
Yes. Adoniram Judson Gordon died in 1895; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1876. 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.