How Lost Was My Condition in Tonic Solfa
How Lost Was My Condition in Tonic Solfa to AURELIA, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mHow- | mlost-mwas-fmy-mcon-- | mdi----rtion-dTill- |
| dJe--lsus-smade-fme- | mwhole!-----fThere- |
| sis-d'but-d'one-tPhy-- | tsi----lcian-sCan- |
| fcure-sa-msin-dsick- | rsoul.-----rNext- |
| mdoor-fto-sdeath-lhe- | lfound---sme,-d'And- |
| d'snatched--tmelfrom-mthe- | fgrave,-----rTo- |
| mtell-mto-fall-ma-- | mround---rme,-dHis- |
| dwon--rdrous-dpow'r-t,to- | dsave.----- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- t, to d' (C♯ to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- AURELIA
- Words
- John Newton
Tune AURELIA by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876); words by John Newton (1725–1807). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
How lost was my condition
Till Jesus made me whole!
There is but one Physician
Can cure a sin-sick soul.
Next door to death he found me,
And snatched me from the grave,
To tell to all around me,
His wondrous pow'r to save.
The worst of all diseases
Is light, compared with sin;
On every part it seizes,
But rages most within:
'Tis palsy, plague, and fever,
And madness--all combined;
And none but a believer
The least relief can find.
From men great skill professing
I thought a cure to gain;
But this proved more distressing,
And added to my pain:
Some said that nothing ailed me,
Some gave me up for lost;
Thus every refuge failed me,
And all my hopes were crossed.
At length this great Physician,
How matchless is his grace!
Accepted my petition,
And undertook my case:
First gave me sight to view him,
For sin my eyes had sealed;
Then bid me look unto him,
I looked, and I was healed.
A dying, risen Jesus,
Seen by the eye of faith;
At once from danger frees us,
And saves the soul from death:
Come then to this Physician,
His help he'll freely give;
He makes no hard condition,
'Tis only--look and live.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (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
John Newton wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book I, hymn 62, “The good Physician”.
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 AURELIA; any other Sevens and Sixes Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Newton (1725–1807)
- Melody (1864): Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876)
Tune AURELIA by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876); words by John Newton (1725–1807).
Sung to the same tune: God Comes, with Succor Speedy, God Is My Strong Salvation, Jesus, I Will Ponder Now, O Father, All Creating, The Church’s One Foundation.
Questions about How Lost Was My Condition
What is the doh of How Lost Was My Condition?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 Lost Was My Condition start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “How” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is How Lost Was My Condition in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Samuel Sebastian Wesley died in 1876; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1864. 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.