Not That Thy Boundless Love, My God in Tonic Solfa

Not That Thy Boundless Love, My God in Tonic Solfa to MATERNA, doh is C: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is C4/4

sNot-

sthat--mThymbound--sless-

slove,--rmyrGod,-mSheds-

fbless--sing-lon-tmy-

sway,-----sAnd-

sgilds--masmwith-sa-

sheav---renlyrbeam-r'The-

de'dark--r'ness-m'of-learth's-

r'day,-----sNot-

m'now--m'forr'breath-d'of-

d'sum---tmertflowers,-d'For-

r'smiles-tof-lsun--sny-

d'skies,-----d'The-

d'still,--lsmalllvoice-d'of-

d'grat---si-stude-sShall-

lto-d'Thine-sear-r'a--

d'rise.-----

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Key: C major
Doh: C
Time: 4/4
Starts on: s (G)
Range: r to m' (D to E, a ninth)
Tune: MATERNA
Words: Anonymous
Music: Samuel A. Ward

Tune MATERNA by Samuel A. Ward (1848–1903); words by Anonymous. 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 C · 4/4

| s - Not| s - - m m - s - that Thy boundless| s - - r r - m - |love, my God, Sheds

| f - s - l - t - blessing on my| s - - - - - s - |way, And

| s - - m m - s - gilds as with a| s - - r r - r' - |heavenly beam The

| de' - r' - m' - l - darkness of earth's| r' - - - - - s - |day, Not

| m' - - m' r' - d' - now for breath of| d' - - t t - d' - |summer flowers, For

| r' - t - l - s - smiles of sunny| d' - - - - - d' - |skies, The

| d' - - l l - d' - still, small voice of| d' - - s s - s - |gratitude Shall

| l - d' - s - r' - to Thine ear a-| d' - - - - - |rise.

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

Not that Thy boundless love, my God,
Sheds blessing on my way,
And gilds as with a heavenly beam
The darkness of earth's day, —
Not now for breath of summer flowers,
For smiles of sunny skies,
The still, small voice of gratitude
Shall to Thine ear arise.

I bless Thee for the ministry
Of sorrow's lonely hour,
When darkly o'er my stricken head
I see the storm-clouds lower;
Thy love can still the billows' roar,
And whisper, "Peace; be still!"
While faith doth on Thy promise rest,
And bless the Father's will.

The shadow and the storm must come;
O, grant that faith divine
Which triumphs o'er the might of grief,
And moulds man's will to Thine!
In hours of deepest gloom, mine eye
One blessed ray can see;
A sunlit side that cloud must have,
Which hides Thy face from me.

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 s (G), on the word “Not”, 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 and the chromatic de. 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

These words were printed without an author's name in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 275, “Faith Triumphant Over Sorrow”, where the book credits them to the Chr. Register.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre Double (8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to MATERNA; any other Common Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Words: Anonymous
Music (1882): Samuel A. Ward (1848–1903)

Tune MATERNA by Samuel A. Ward (1848–1903); words by Anonymous.

Sung to the same tune: And Let This Feeble Body Fail, Behold, the King of Zion Rides, I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, Jerusalem! My Glorious Home, Joined in a Union Firm and Strong, My Shepherd Is the Lord on High, O God, That Madest Earth and Sky, O Thou, Who Didst Ordain the Word, The Earth, All Light and Loveliness, The Heavenly Spheres to Thee, O God, The World May Change from Old to New, Thou Must Go Forth Alone, My Soul, Who Shall Behold the Glorious Day, Ye Joyous Ones! upon Whose Brow.

Questions about Not That Thy Boundless Love, My God

What is the doh of Not That Thy Boundless Love, My God?

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 Not That Thy Boundless Love, My God start on?

It starts on s (G in C major), a pickup on the word “Not” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is Not That Thy Boundless Love, My God in the public domain?

Yes. Samuel A. Ward died in 1903; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1882. 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.