Lord While for All Mankind We Pray in Tonic Solfa
Lord While for All Mankind We Pray in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (B)
- Range
- l, to l (E to E, an octave)
- Tune
- NOX PRAECESSIT
- Words
- John Reynell Wreford
- Music
- John Baptiste Calkin
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune NOX PRAECESSIT by John Baptiste Calkin (1827–1905); words by John Reynell Wreford (1800–1891). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mLord,-mwhilemfordall-rman-- | mkind-mwe-fpray,-rOf- |
| de--mvery-sclime--fand | mcoast,-----dOh,- |
| lhear--susffor-mour- | rna--mtive-fland,-l,The- |
| t,land-dwe-mlove--rthe | dmost.------- |
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 G · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Lord, while for all mankind we pray,
Of every clime and coast,
Oh, hear us for our native land,
The land we love the most.
Oh, guard our shores from every foe,
With peace our borders bless,
With prosp'rous times our cities crown,
Our fields with plenteousness.
Unite us in the sacred love
Of knowledge, truth and Thee;
And let our hills and valleys shout
The songs of liberty.
Here may religion, pure and mild,
Smile on our Sabbath hours;
And piety and virtue bless
The home of us and ours.
Lord of the nations, Thus to Thee
Our country we commend;
Be Thou her Refuge and her Trust,
Her everlasting Friend.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G 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 (B).
- 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
The words are by John Reynell Wreford, first published in 1837. The tune, NOX PRAECESSIT, is by John Baptiste Calkin (1873). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1837): John Reynell Wreford (1800–1891)
- Music (1873): John Baptiste Calkin (1827–1905)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune NOX PRAECESSIT by John Baptiste Calkin (1827–1905); words by John Reynell Wreford (1800–1891). 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 While for All Mankind We Pray
What is the doh of Lord While for All Mankind We Pray?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. 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 While for All Mankind We Pray start on?
It starts on m (B in G major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Lord While for All Mankind We Pray in the public domain?
Yes. John Reynell Wreford died in 1891, John Baptiste Calkin died in 1905; the words were first published in 1837 and the music in 1873. 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.