Lord, We Come Before Thee Now in Tonic Solfa
Lord, We Come Before Thee Now in Tonic Solfa to ST. BEES, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dLord,-dwe-dcome--t,be- | l,fore-t,thee-dnow;--- |
| rAt-rthy-mfeet-s,we- | l,hum--rbly-t,bow;--- |
| rO,-fdo-mnot--dour | t,suit-rdis--ddain;--- |
| dShall-rwe-dseek-dthee,- | dLord,--t,indvain?--- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A♭)
- Range
- s, to f (E♭ to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- ST. BEES
- Words
- William Hammond
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by William Hammond (1719–1783). 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 Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Lord, we come before thee now;
At thy feet we humbly bow;
O, do not our suit disdain;
Shall we seek thee, Lord, in vain?
In thine own appointed way,
Now we seek thee; here we stay;
Lord, from hence we would not go,
Till a blessing thou bestow.
Comfort those who weep and mourn;
Let the time of joy return;
Those that are cast down, lift up;
Make them strong in faith and hope.
Grant that all may seek and find
Thee a God supremely kind;
Heal the sick; the captive free;
Let us all rejoice in thee.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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
William Hammond wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 22 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “A Blessing humbly requested”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens (7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ST. BEES; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Hammond (1719–1783)
- Music (1862): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by William Hammond (1719–1783).
Sung to the same tune: 'Tis a Point I Long to Know, "Give Us Room, That We May Dwell,", Children of the Heavenly King, Father, Hear Us When We Pray, Feeble, Helpless, How Shall I, For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace, Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky, Honey Though the Bee Prepares, Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord, Lord! Deliver; Thou Canst Save, Nay, I Cannot Let Thee Go, Now Let Us Come Before Him, Now May Fervent Prayer Arise, Partners of a Glorious Hope, There's a Strife We All Must Wage, What a Mournful Life Is Mine, While the Stars Unnumbered Roll.
Questions about Lord, We Come Before Thee Now
What is the doh of Lord, We Come Before Thee Now?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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, We Come Before Thee Now start on?
It starts on d (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Lord, We Come Before Thee Now in the public domain?
Yes. William Hammond died in 1783, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1862. 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.