Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates in Tonic Solfa
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- A major
- Doh
- A
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- s, (E)
- Range
- m, to s (C♯ to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- MILWAUKEE
- Words
- Georg Weissel, Catherine Winkworth
- Music
- August Lemke
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune MILWAUKEE by August Lemke (1820–1913); words by Georg Weissel (1590–1635); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,Lift- | mup---dyour- | dheads,-t,_-dye- | rmight----t,y- | s,gates!---s,Be-- |
| s,hold,-l,_-t,the- | dKing---l,of- | s,glo----f,ry- | m,waits;---m,The- |
| s,King-d_-mof- | rkings-t,_-s,is- | ddraw--l,_-fe,ing- | s,near,---s,The- |
| dSa----rvior- | mof---dthe- | t,world---l,is- | s,here;---dLife- |
| t,and---rsal-- | dva----mtion- | rdoth---fHe- | mbring,---s,Where-- |
| ffore-m_-rre-- | djoice-t,_-l,and- | s,glad----s,ly- | s,sing:---sWe- |
| spraise---mThee,- | fFa----sther,- | mnow!---s,Cre-- | l,a--f_-rtor,- |
| dwise---t,art- | dThou!--- |
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 WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is A · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in A major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!
Behold, the King of glory waits;
The King of kings is drawing near,
The Savior of the world is here;
Life and salvation doth He bring,
Wherefore rejoice and gladly sing:
We praise Thee, Father, now!
Creator, wise art Thou!
The Lord is just, a Helper tried,
Mercy is ever at His side,
His kingly crown is holiness,
His scepter, pity in distress,
The end of all our woe He brings;
Wherefore the earth is glad and sings:
We praise Thee, Savior, now!
Mighty in deed art Thou!
O blest the land, the city blest,
Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!
O happy hearts and happy homes
To whom this King in triumph comes!
The cloudless Sun of joy He is,
Who bringeth pure delight and bliss.
O Comforter divine,
What boundless grace is Thine!
Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple, set apart
From earthly use for heav'ns employ,
Adorned with prayer and love and joy;
So shall your Sovereign enter in,
and new and nobler life begin;
To Thee, O God, be praise,
For Word, and deed, and grace!
Redeemer, come! I open wide
My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide!
Let me Thy inner presence feel,
Thy grace and love in me reveal.
Thy Holy Spirit guide us on,
Until our glorious goal be won!
Eternal praise and fame
We offer to Thy Name.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum A 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 “Lift”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/4 means three 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 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
The words are by Georg Weissel, first published in 1642. The English translation is by Catherine Winkworth (1855). The tune, MILWAUKEE, is by August Lemke (1849). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1642): Georg Weissel (1590–1635)
- Translated (1855): Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)
- Music (1849): August Lemke (1820–1913)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune MILWAUKEE by August Lemke (1820–1913); words by Georg Weissel (1590–1635); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Questions about Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
What is the doh of Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates?
In this version, in A major, doh is A. 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 Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates start on?
It starts on s, (E in A major), a pickup on the word “Lift” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates in the public domain?
Yes. Georg Weissel died in 1635, Catherine Winkworth died in 1878, August Lemke died in 1913; the words were first published in 1855 and the music in 1849. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.