Lord of Our Life in Tonic Solfa
Lord of Our Life in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D minor
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (D)
- Range
- l, to l (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- ISTE CONFESSOR
- Words
- Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern, Philip Pusey
- Music
- From Poitiers Antiphoner, 1746
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ISTE CONFESSOR (From Poitiers Antiphoner, 1746); words by Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern (1594–1648); translated by Philip Pusey (1799–1855). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| l,Lord---mof-dour- | rlife,---mand--- |
| l,God--t,ofdour-rsal-- | dva--t,_-l,tion,--- |
| l,Star---mof-dour- | rnight,---mand--- |
| mHope--rofmev--feery- | sna--fe_-mtion,--- |
| lHear---sand-lre-- | sceive-f_-mThy--- |
| schurch---f'smsup--fpli-- | mca--r_-dtion,--- |
| mLord---l,God-t,Al-- | dmigh----t,_--- |
| l,ty.------- |
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 · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Lord of our life, and God of our salvation,
Star of our night, and Hope of every nation,
Hear and receive Thy church's supplication,
Lord God Almighty.
See round Thine Ark the hungry billows curling!
See how Thy foes their banners are unfurling!
Lord, while their darts envenomed they are hurling,
Thou canst preserve us.
Lord, Thou canst help when earthly armor faileth;
Lord, Thou canst save when sin itself assaileth;
Lord, o'er Thy Rock nor death nor hell prevaileth;
Grant us Thy peace, Lord.
Peace, in our hearts, our evil thoughts assuaging,
Peace, in Thy Church, where brothers are engaging,
Peace, when the world its busy war is waging;
Calm Thy foes raging!
Grant us Thy help till backward they are driven;
Grant them Thy Truth, that they may be forgiven;
Grant peace on earth, and after we have striven,
Peace in Thy Heaven.
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 l, (D).
- 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 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 Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern, first published in 1644. The English translation is by Philip Pusey (1840). The tune, ISTE CONFESSOR, is from Poitiers Antiphoner, 1746. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1644): Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern (1594–1648)
- Translated (1840): Philip Pusey (1799–1855)
- Melody (1746): From Poitiers Antiphoner, 1746
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ISTE CONFESSOR (From Poitiers Antiphoner, 1746); words by Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern (1594–1648); translated by Philip Pusey (1799–1855). 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 Lord of Our Life
What is the doh of Lord of Our Life?
In this version, in D minor, 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 Our Life start on?
It starts on l, (D in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is Lord of Our Life in the public domain?
Yes. Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern died in 1648, Philip Pusey died in 1855; the words were first published in 1840 and the music in 1746. 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.