How Shall We Praise Thee, Lord of Light in Tonic Solfa
How Shall We Praise Thee, Lord of Light in Tonic Solfa to SWEET HOUR, doh is Db: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 2 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dHow | mshall-fwespraise-sThee, | lLord-tofd'light!-lHow | sshall-mwemallr_dThy | rlove-mde-rclare!-dThe |
| mearth-fissveiled-sin | lshades-tofd'night,-lBut | sheaven-mismo-r_dpen | mto-rourdprayer,-sThat |
| d'heaven,-tsod'bright-lwith | sstars-mandssuns,-sThat | d'glo--triousd'heaven-lwhich | shas-mnorbound,-dWhere |
| mthe-ffullstide-sof | lbe--tingd'runs,-lAnd | slife-mandmbeau-r_dty | mglow-ra-dround.- |
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- Key
- Db major
- Doh
- Db
- Time
- 6/8
- Starts on
- d (D♭)
- Range
- d to d' (D♭ to D♭, an octave)
- Tune
- SWEET HOUR
- Words
- John Bowring
Tune SWEET HOUR by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868); words by John Bowring (1792–1872). 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 Db · 6/8
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Db major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
How shall we praise Thee, Lord of light!
How shall we all Thy love declare!
The earth is veiled in shades of night,
But heaven is open to our prayer, —
That heaven, so bright with stars and suns,
That glorious heaven which has no bound,
Where the full tide of being runs,
And life and beauty glow around.
We would adore Thee, God sublime,
Whose power and wisdom, love and grace,
Are greater than the round of time,
And wider than the bounds of space.
Help us to praise Thee, Lord of light!
Help us Thy boundless love declare;
And, while we fill Thy courts to-night,
Aid us, and hearken to our prayer.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Db 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 (D♭), on the word “How”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 6/8 means two dotted-crotchet beats (six quavers) 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 Bowring wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 25, “Evening Worship”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Long Metre Double (8.8.8.8.8.8.8.8), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to SWEET HOUR; any other Long Metre Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Bowring (1792–1872)
- Music (1861): William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868)
Tune SWEET HOUR by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868); words by John Bowring (1792–1872).
Sung to the same tune: Arm These Thy Soldiers, Mighty Lord, Eternal, Spotless Lamb of God, Jesu, My Advocate Above, Lamp of Our Feet! Whose Hallowed Beam, O Holy Father! 'Mid the Calm, Sweet Hour of Prayer, The Spacious Firmament on High, Though Sore Beset with Guilt and Fear, When Dread Misfortune's Tempests Rise.
Questions about How Shall We Praise Thee, Lord of Light
What is the doh of How Shall We Praise Thee, Lord of Light?
In this version, in Db major, doh is Db. 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 Shall We Praise Thee, Lord of Light start on?
It starts on d (D♭ in Db major), a pickup on the word “How” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is How Shall We Praise Thee, Lord of Light in the public domain?
Yes. John Bowring died in 1872, William Batchelder Bradbury died in 1868; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1861. 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.