Lord of Life, All Praise Excelling in Tonic Solfa
Lord of Life, All Praise Excelling in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 3 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- d to l (F to D, a sixth)
- Tune
- HYFRYDOL
- Words
- Clement Clarke Moore
- Music
- Rowland H. Prichard
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune HYFRYDOL by Rowland H. Prichard (1811–1887); words by Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dLord---rof- | dlife,--r_mall- | fpraise---mex-- | rcel--d_-rling,- |
| sThou,---fin- | mglo----mry- | run--d_-rcon-- | dfined,----- |
| dDeignst---rto- | dmake--r_mThy- | fhum----mble- | rdwell--d_-ring- |
| sWith---fthe- | mpoor---mof- | rhum--d_-rble- | dmind.----- |
| sAs---sThy- | slove,-f_-mthrough- | fall---fcre-- | fa--m_-rtion,- |
| mBeams---mlike- | mThy-f_-sdif-- | sfu--f_-msive- | rlight;----- |
| sSo-m_-sthe- | fhigh-r_-fand- | mhum--d_-mble- | rsta-m_f_m_rtion- |
| sBoth---sare- | le--s_-fqual- | min---rThy- | dsight.----- |
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 F · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Lord of life, all praise excelling,
Thou, in glory unconfined,
Deignst to make Thy humble dwelling
With the poor of humble mind.
As Thy love, through all creation,
Beams like Thy diffusive light;
So the high and humble station
Both are equal in Thy sight.
Thus Thy care, for all providing,
Warmed Thy faithful prophet's tongue;
Who, the lot of all deciding,
To Thy chosen Israel sung.
When Thy harvest yields Thee pleasure,
Thou the golden sheaf shalt bind;
To the poor belongs the treasure
Of the scattered ears behind.
Still we read Thy Word declaring
Mercy, Lord, Thine own decree;
Mercy ev'ry sorrow sharing,
Warms the heart resembling Thee.
Still the orphan and the stranger,
Still the widow owns Thy care;
Screened by Thee in ev'ry danger,
Heard by Thee in ev'ry prayer.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 (F).
- 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. 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 Clement Clarke Moore, first published in 1808. The tune, HYFRYDOL, is by Rowland H. Prichard (1830). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1808): Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863)
- Music (1830): Rowland H. Prichard (1811–1887)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune HYFRYDOL by Rowland H. Prichard (1811–1887); words by Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863). 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: Alleluia, Sing to Jesus!, Lord of Glory, Who Hast Bought Us.
Questions about Lord of Life, All Praise Excelling
What is the doh of Lord of Life, All Praise Excelling?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. 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 of Life, All Praise Excelling start on?
It starts on d (F in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Lord of Life, All Praise Excelling in the public domain?
Yes. Clement Clarke Moore died in 1863, Rowland H. Prichard died in 1887; the words were first published in 1808 and the music in 1830. 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.