Lord, When at Thy Command in Tonic Solfa

Lord, When at Thy Command in Tonic Solfa to DIADEMATA, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 2 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is D4/4

dLord,-dwhendatmThy-mcom--

lmand-----lThe-

sWord-dof-fLife-mwe-

rsow,-----rWa--

mtered-sby-lThy-sal--

femight--myr_shand,-d'The-

tseed-d'shall-lsure--lly-

sgrow;-----sThe-

svir--mtue-rof-dThy-

lgrace-----lA-

llarge-fein--mcrease-rshall-

tgive-----tAnd-

d'mul---tti-lply-sthe-

ffaith--rful-mrace-sWho-

fto-mThy-rglo--rry-

dlive.-------

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Key: D major
Doh: D
Time: 4/4
Starts on: d (D)
Range: d to d' (D to D, an octave)
Tune: DIADEMATA
Words: Charles Wesley
Music: George Job Elvey

Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788). 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 D · 4/4

| d - d d m - m - Lord, when at Thy com-| l - - - - - l - |mand The

| s - d - f - m - Word of Life we| r - - - - - r - |sow, Wa-

| m - s - l - s - tered by Thy al-| fe - m r s - d' - |mighty hand, The

| t - d' - l - l - seed shall surely| s - - - - - s - |grow; The

| s - m - r - d - virtue of Thy| l - - - - - l - |grace A

| l - fe - m - r - large increase shall| t - - - - - t - |give And

| d' - - t l - s - multiply the| f - r - m - s - |faithful race Who

| f - m - r - r - to Thy glory| d - - - - - - - |live.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

Lord, when at Thy command
The Word of Life we sow,
Watered by Thy almighty hand,
The seed shall surely grow;
The virtue of Thy grace
A large increase shall give
And multiply the faithful race
Who to Thy glory live.

Now, then, the ceaseless shower
Of Gospel-blessings send
And let the soul-converting power
Thy ministers attend;
On multitudes confer
The heart-renewing love
And by the joy of grace prepare
For fuller joys above.

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (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

Charles Wesley wrote these words. They were printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 487.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Short Metre Double (6.6.8.6.6.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to DIADEMATA; any other Short Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Melody (1868): George Job Elvey (1816–1893)

Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788).

Sung to the same tune: Ah Whither Should I Go, Ah, When Shall I Awake, And Am I Born to Die, Crown Him with Many Crowns, Equip Me for the War, Father of Boundless Grace, Gracious Redeemer, Shake, Great Source of Life and Light, Hark! Hark! with Harps of Gold, I Want a Sober Mind, I Was a Wandering Sheep, I Will Not Yield My Sword, In Fellowship, Alone, It Is the Hour of Prayer, Jesu, We Look to Thee, Jesus, My Strength, My Hope, My God, My Strength, My Hope, My Sin Was Very Great, O God, in Mercy Hear, O That I Could Repent, O Thou Who Wouldst Not Have, O Unexhausted Grace, Soldiers of Christ, Arise, Sow in the Morn Thy Seed, Sweet Is the Time of Spring, The Thing My God Doth Hate, We Mourn for Those Who Toil.

Questions about Lord, When at Thy Command

What is the doh of Lord, When at Thy Command?

In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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, When at Thy Command start on?

It starts on d (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.

Is Lord, When at Thy Command in the public domain?

Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, George Job Elvey died in 1893; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1868. 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.