I Brought My Merits to the Throne in Tonic Solfa
I Brought My Merits to the Throne in Tonic Solfa to SELENA, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sI-sbrought-smy- | lmer------sits-sto-fethe- | sthrone,-----tAnd-tset-d'them- |
| r'forth-----d'in-d'or--tder- | d'there;-----sI-ssaid,-s"O- |
| lLord,-----sThy-sser--fevant- | sown,-----tAnd-tlet-d'his- |
| r'brow-----d'the-d'gar--tland- | d'wear;-----m'The-m'grace-m'and- |
| f'vir------m'tue-r'of-d'his- | llife,-----lHe-lwon-las- |
| svic--stor-sin---sthe--- | sstrife."----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- s (E♭)
- Range
- fe to f' (E𝄫 to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- SELENA
- Words
- Traditional Greek, John Brownlie
- Music
- Isaac B. Woodbury
Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925). 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 Ab · 3/2
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
I brought my merits to the throne,
And set them forth in order there;
I said, "O Lord, Thy servant own,
And let his brow the garland wear;
The grace and virtue of his life,
He won as victor in the strife."
The song that erstwhile filled the place,
Where high the throne of Christ was set,
Grew faint, as on each pensive face
Joy mixed with pain, and pity met; —
Their song had told the debt they owed,
And how the Christ His grace bestowed.
O, silence fell, so sharp and chill, —
My soul to meanness pined and shrank,
Forth went my cry in accent shrill,
"My Lord, have I no grace to thank?"
Its echo dying, lingered, sank,
"My Lord, have I no grace to thank?"
I saw His piercéd hands and side,
I saw the thorn-wounds on His brow, —
"My Lord, forgive my sinful pride,
Accept my sore repentance now;"
Then rose high heaven's adoring prayers,
My grateful song went forth with theirs.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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 (E♭), on the word “I”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/2 means three minim 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. 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 Brownlie translated these words from the Greek service books for Hymns from the East (Paisley, in print by 1911), headed “O tell it not”.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Long Metre, six lines (8.8.8.8.8.8), and this page sets them to SELENA; any other Long Metre, six lines tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Greek
- Translated (by 1911): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Music (1850): Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858)
Tune SELENA by Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Above, Below, Where'er I Gaze, Afflicted by a Gracious God, All Things Are Possible to Him, Around Bethesda's Healing Wave, Behold the Servant of the Lord, Blest Who with Generous Pity Glows, Captain of Our Salvation, Take, Come, O Thou Universal Good, Creator Spirit, by Whose Light, Father of Everlasting, Grace, Father of Lights, from Whom Proceeds, God Sent Me to the Desert Wild, Hark! upon the Morning Breezes, I Brought My Darkest Sin to Mind, I Praised the Earth in Beauty Seen, I Sought the Lord at Early Morn, If Listening, as I Listen Still, Jesu, If Still the Same Thou Art, Jesus, Thou Source of Calm Repose, Join, All Ye Servants of the Lord, Lord of the Sea! — Thy Potent Sway, O 'Tis Enough, My God, My God, O Come, Thou Radiant Morning Star, O Let My Trembling Soul Be Still, O Lord of Bounty, Let This Bread, O Lord, Whose Bounteous Hand Again, O Love, I Languish at Thy Stay, O Thou Whom Fain My Soul Would Love, O Thou, in Whom the Weary Find, Our Earth We Now Lament to See, Peace, Troubled Soul, Whose Plaintive Moan, Strange and Mysterious Is My Life, The Heavens, O Lord! Thy Power Proclaim, The Promise Which the Saviour Made, Thou God Unsearchable, Unknown, Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose, Thou, Lord, on Whom I Still Depend, To Thee, My God! to Thee I Bring, Unless the Lord Had Been My Stay, Watched by the World's Malignant Eye, Weary of Wandering from My God, What Must It Be to Dwell Above, What Shall I Do My God to Love, When Quiet in My House I Sit, When Streaming from the Eastern Skies, When Thou Wert Crucified by Men, Would Jesus Have the Sinner Die.
Questions about I Brought My Merits to the Throne
What is the doh of I Brought My Merits to the Throne?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 I Brought My Merits to the Throne start on?
It starts on s (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the word “I” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is I Brought My Merits to the Throne in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, Isaac B. Woodbury died in 1858; the words were in print by 1911 and the music in 1850. 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.