May God Bestow on Us His Grace in Tonic Solfa
May God Bestow on Us His Grace in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 3 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- t (B)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- ES WOLLT UNS GOTT GENÆDIG
- Words
- Martin Luther, Richard Massie
- Music
- Traditional German, Martin Luther
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ES WOLLT UNS GOTT GENÆDIG by Martin Luther (1483–1546); words by Martin Luther (1483–1546); translated by Richard Massie (1800–1887). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| tMay--- | d'God-tbe--lstow-ton- | r'us--m'_r'_-d'His- |
| tgrace,---r'With--- | d'bless--tings-d'rich-lpro-- |
| svide-r_-f_-s_- | mus,------- |
| ____tAnd--- | d'may-tthe-lbright--tness- |
| r'of--m'_r'_-d'His- | tface---r'To--- |
| d'life-te--d'ter--lnal- | sguide-r_-f_-s_- |
| mus------- | sThat---fwe-mHis- |
| rsa--mving-dhealth-rmay- | mknow,---tHis--- |
| d'gra--lcious-swill-land- | d'plea----tsure,--- |
| m'And---r'al--tso- | r'to-lthe-shea--fthen- |
| mshow---sChrist's--- | lrich--ses-d'with--r'out- |
| tmea----lsure--- | __d'And-tun--lto- |
| sGod-rcon--fvert-s_- | mthem.------- |
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 C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
May God bestow on us His grace,
With blessings rich provide us,
And may the brightness of His face
To life eternal guide us
That we His saving health may know,
His gracious will and pleasure,
And also to the heathen show
Christ's riches without measure
And unto God convert them.
Thine over all shall be the praise
And thanks of every nation,
And all the world with joy shall raise
The voice of exultation;
For Thou shalt judge the earth, O Lord,
Nor suffer sin to flourish;
Thy people's pasture is Thy Word
Their souls to feed and nourish,
In righteous paths to keep them.
Oh, let the people praise Thy worth,
In all good works increasing;
The land shall plenteous fruit bring forth,
Thy Word is rich in blessing.
May God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit bless us!
Let all the world praise Him alone,
Let solemn awe possess us.
Now let our hearts say, Amen.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 t (B), on the word “May”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- 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 Martin Luther, first published in 1524. The English translation is by Richard Massie (1854). The tune, ES WOLLT UNS GOTT GENÆDIG, is by Martin Luther (1524). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1524): Martin Luther (1483–1546)
- Translated (1854): Richard Massie (1800–1887)
- Melody (1524): Traditional German
- Music (1524): Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ES WOLLT UNS GOTT GENÆDIG by Martin Luther (1483–1546); words by Martin Luther (1483–1546); translated by Richard Massie (1800–1887). 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 May God Bestow on Us His Grace
What is the doh of May God Bestow on Us His Grace?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 May God Bestow on Us His Grace start on?
It starts on t (B in C major), a pickup on the word “May” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to t.
Is May God Bestow on Us His Grace in the public domain?
Yes. Martin Luther died in 1546, Richard Massie died in 1887, Martin Luther died in 1546; the words were first published in 1854 and the music in 1524. 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.