I Looked upon the Righteous Man in Tonic Solfa

I Looked upon the Righteous Man in Tonic Solfa to ALL SAINTS, NEW, doh is Bb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Bb4/4

sI-

mlooked--fup-son-d'the-

d'right---teoustman,-d'And-

r'saw-m'his-f'part--m'ing-

r'breath,-----r'With--

m'out--r'ad'strug--tgle-

tor--lalsigh,-lSe--

srene--d'ly-tyield--d'to

d'death:-----d'There-

d'was-d'no-tan--tguish-

lon--lhislbrow,-lNor-

ster--sror-sin-shis-

seye;-----fThe-

mspoil---fersaimed-d'a-

d'fa---ttaltdart,-d'But-

m'lost-r'the-d'vic--tto--

d'ry.-----

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Key: Bb major
Doh: Bb
Time: 4/4
Starts on: s (F)
Range: m to f' (D to E♭, a ninth)
Tune: ALL SAINTS, NEW
Words: Anonymous
Music: Henry Stephen Cutler

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); 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 Bb · 4/4

| s - I| m - - f s - d' - looked upon the| d' - - t t - d' - |righteous man, And

| r' - m' - f' - m' - saw his parting| r' - - - - - r' - |breath, With-

| m' - - r' d' - t - out a struggle| t - - l l - l - |or a sigh, Se-

| s - d' - t - - d' renely yield to| d' - - - - - d' - |death: There

| d' - d' - t - t - was no anguish| l - - l l - l - |on his brow, Nor

| s - s - s - s - terror in his| s - - - - - f - |eye; The

| m - - f s - d' - spoiler aimed a| d' - - t t - d' - |fatal dart, But

| m' - r' - d' - t - lost the victo-| d' - - - - - |ry.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in Bb major, with the first verse under the notes.

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

I looked upon the righteous man,
And saw his parting breath,
Without a struggle or a sigh,
Serenely yield to death:
There was no anguish on his brow,
Nor terror in his eye;
The spoiler aimed a fatal dart,
But lost the victory.

I looked upon the righteous man,
And heard the holy prayer
Which rose above that breathless form,
To soothe the mourners' care,
And felt how precious was the gift
He to his loved ones gave, —
The stainless memory of the just,
The wealth beyond the grave.

I looked upon the righteous man;
And all our earthly trust
Of pleasure, vanity, or pride,
Seemed lighter than the dust,
Compared with his celestial gain, —
A home above the sky:
O, grant us, Lord, his life to live,
That we like him may die.

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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 (F), on the word “I”, 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 Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 577 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “Peaceful Death of the Righteous”.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre Double (8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ALL SAINTS, NEW; any other Common Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Words: Anonymous
Music (1872): Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902)

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Anonymous.

Sung to the same tune: All Nature's Works His Praise Declare, Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste, Father, When O'er Our Trembling Hearts, God of All Grace and Majesty, Jesus, My Master and My Lord, Lord, Soothe My Anxious, Troubled Soul, Now Gird Your Patient Loins Again, O Where Are Kings and Empires Now, O, Not Alone with Outward Sign, O, Who Shall See the Glorious Day, Oh! Not Alone with Outward Sign, Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears, The Aged Sufferer Waited Long, Thy Servants in the Temple Watched, When, on Devotion's Seraph Wing.

Questions about I Looked upon the Righteous Man

What is the doh of I Looked upon the Righteous Man?

In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 Looked upon the Righteous Man start on?

It starts on s (F in Bb major), a pickup on the word “I” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is I Looked upon the Righteous Man in the public domain?

Yes. Henry Stephen Cutler died in 1902; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1872. 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.