Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation in Tonic Solfa
Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 3 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- A major
- Doh
- A
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A)
- Range
- s, to s (E to E, an octave)
- Tune
- REX GLORIAE
- Words
- Christopher Wordsworth
- Music
- Henry Thomas Smart
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune REX GLORIAE by Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879); words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dLo-s,He-dcomes!-rwhom- | me---fverymna--rtion,- |
| sTaught-dof-rGod,-mde-f_ | msired-rto-msee,--- |
| mFilled-rwith-mhope-sand- | dex--t,pec--t,ta--l,tion- |
| rThat-rHe-swould-t,their- | l,Sa--l,vior-s,be.--- |
| s,Sing,--l,ot,sing-rwith- | de--t,xul--l,ta--s,tion,- |
| dLo!-rHe-mcallsf_sus- | fto-mour-rhome;--- |
| dPeace,-s,re--ddemp--rtion,- | mjoy,--fsal-mva--rtion,- |
| sNow-dfrom-fHeav'n-mto- | rearth-rare-dcome.--- |
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 · 4/4
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
Lo He comes! whom every nation,
Taught of God, desired to see,
Filled with hope and expectation
That He would their Savior be.
Sing, o sing with exultation,
Lo! He calls us to our home;
Peace, redemption, joy, salvation,
Now from Heav'n to earth are come.
See He comes! Whom kings and sages,
Prophets, patriarchs of old,
Disant climes and countless ages,
Waited eager to behold.
Sing, o sing with exultation,
Haste we to our Father's home;
Peace, redemption, joy, salvation,
Now from Heav'n to earth are come.
See the Lamb of God appearing,
God of God, from Heav'n above;
See the Heav'nly Bridegroom cheering
His dear Bride with words of love!
Glory to th'Eternal Father,
Glory to th'Incarnate Son
Glory to the Holy Spirit,
Glory to the Three in One!
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 d (A).
- 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
The words are by Christopher Wordsworth, first published in 1865. The tune, REX GLORIAE, is by Henry Thomas Smart (1868). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1865): Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885)
- Music (1868): Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune REX GLORIAE by Henry Thomas Smart (1813–1879); words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885). 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.
Sung to the same tune: Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow.
Questions about Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation
What is the doh of Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation?
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 Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation start on?
It starts on d (A in A major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Lo He Comes! Whom Every Nation in the public domain?
Yes. Christopher Wordsworth died in 1885, Henry Thomas Smart died in 1879; the words were first published in 1865 and the music in 1868. 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.