Lord, Let Our Eyes the Things Unseen Behold in Tonic Solfa
Lord, Let Our Eyes the Things Unseen Behold in Tonic Solfa to EVENTIDE, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mLord,---mlet-rour- | deyes---sthe--- |
| lthings-sun--sseen-fbe-- | mhold,------- |
| mAnd,---f'mid-sthe- | lglo----sry--- |
| fthat-rlike-msun--feset- | sdies,------- |
| mFair---mto-rthe- | dsight---sthe--- |
| swon--fdrous-fbliss-mun-- | rfold------- |
| rThat---mlives-fin- | mbeau--rty-dun--fder- |
| mcloud----rless--- | dskies.------- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (G)
- Range
- d to l (E♭ to C, a sixth)
- Tune
- EVENTIDE
- Words
- Traditional Greek, John Brownlie
- Music
- William Henry Monk
Tune EVENTIDE by William Henry Monk (1823–1889); 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 Eb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Lord, let our eyes the things unseen behold,
And, 'mid the glory that like sunset dies,
Fair to the sight the wondrous bliss unfold
That lives in beauty under cloudless skies.
And let our ears the things unuttered hear,
That silent voices to the soul can tell;
That heart can whisper when a heart is near
Of love that scorns in uttered tones to dwell.
Teach us to know that things unseen are real,
That earth no bloom of fadeless beauty gives,
That far beyond the things that sense can feel,
The joy of being, and of having, lives.
Lord Who hast risen, nor left the world behind,
Daily incline our sense-bound souls to soar,
Till 'mong the things all hidden we may find
Possessions that abide for evermore.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 m (G).
- 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 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 Morningland (Paisley, 1911), headed “Aspirations”.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Tens (10.10.10.10), and this page sets them to EVENTIDE; any other Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Greek
- Translated (1911): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Melody (1861): William Henry Monk (1823–1889)
Tune EVENTIDE by William Henry Monk (1823–1889); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Abide with Me, Father Divine, This Deadening Power Control, Lord, I Am Thine, for Thou Hast Died for Me, Not Worthy, Lord, to Gather Up the Crumbs.
Questions about Lord, Let Our Eyes the Things Unseen Behold
What is the doh of Lord, Let Our Eyes the Things Unseen Behold?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Lord, Let Our Eyes the Things Unseen Behold start on?
It starts on m (G in Eb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Lord, Let Our Eyes the Things Unseen Behold in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, William Henry Monk died in 1889; the words were in print by 1911 and the music in 1861. 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.