Let Me Be Thine Forever in Tonic Solfa
Let Me Be Thine Forever in Tonic Solfa to EWING, doh is C: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dLet- | rme-dbe-fThine-mfor-- | rev----der,-mThou- |
| sfaith--d'ful-tGod-seand- | lLord;-----lLet- |
| sme-mfor--msake-rThee- | dnev----rer-mNor- |
| mwan--mder-rfrom-dThy- | rWord;-----rLord,- |
| fdo-mnot-llet-tme- | d'wa----r'ver,-sBut- |
| m'give--m'mer'stead--d'fast-- | tness,-----lAnd- |
| sfor-msuch-mgrace-rfor-- | dev----rer-mThy- |
| mho--mly-rname--dI’ll | dbless.----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (C)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- EWING
- Music
- Alexander C. Ewing
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EWING by Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895); words by Nikolaus Selnecker (1530–1592); translated by Matthias Loy (1828–1915). 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 C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Let me be Thine forever,
Thou faithful God and Lord;
Let me forsake Thee never
Nor wander from Thy Word;
Lord, do not let me waver,
But give me steadfastness,
And for such grace forever
Thy holy name I’ll bless.
Lord Jesus, my Salvation,
My Light, my Life divine,
My only Consolation,
O make me wholly Thine!
For Thou hast dearly bought me
With blood and bitter pain;
Let me, since Thou hast sought me,
Eternal life obtain.
And Thou, O Holy Spirit,
My Comforter and Guide,
Grant that in Jesus’ merit
I always may confide,
Him to the end confessing,
Whom I have known by faith.
Give me Thy constant blessing
And grant a Christian death.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 (C), on the word “Let”, 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 and the chromatic se. 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
Nikolaus Selnecker wrote these words in German. Matthias Loy's translation was printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 408.
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 EWING; any other Sevens and Sixes Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: Nikolaus Selnecker (1530–1592)
- Translated: Matthias Loy (1828–1915)
- Music (1853): Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EWING by Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895); words by Nikolaus Selnecker (1530–1592); translated by Matthias Loy (1828–1915). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: "Remember Thy Creator", Hail to the Lord's Anointed, Jerusalem the Golden, O Living Bread from Heaven, O Word of God Incarnate, Our Father — Ever Living, The Joy of Earth Is Fleeting.
Questions about Let Me Be Thine Forever
What is the doh of Let Me Be Thine Forever?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Let Me Be Thine Forever start on?
It starts on d (C in C major), a pickup on the word “Let” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Let Me Be Thine Forever in the public domain?
Yes. Nikolaus Selnecker died in 1592, Matthias Loy died in 1915, Alexander C. Ewing died in 1895; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1853. 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.