O Father, All Creating in Tonic Solfa
O Father, All Creating in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 4 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- t, to d' (C♯ to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- AURELIA
- Words
- John Ellerton
- Music
- Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AURELIA by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876); words by John Ellerton (1826–1893). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mO- | mFa--mther,-fall-mcre-- | ma----rting,-dWhose- |
| dwis--ldom,-slove,-fand- | mpow'r-----fFirst- |
| sbound-d'two-d'lives-tto-- | tge----lther-sIn- |
| fE--sden's-mpri--dmal- | rhour,-----rTo-- |
| mday-fto-sthese-lThy- | lchild----sren-d'Thy- |
| d'ear---tliestlgifts-mre-- | fnew:-----rA- |
| mhome-mby-fThee-mmade- | mhap----rpy,-dA- |
| dlove-rby-dThee-t,kept- | dtrue.----- |
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 D · 4/4
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
O Father, all creating,
Whose wisdom, love, and pow'r
First bound two lives together
In Eden's primal hour,
Today to these Thy children
Thy earliest gifts renew:
A home by Thee made happy,
A love by Thee kept true.
O Savior, Guest most bounteous
Of old in Galilee,
Vouchsafe today Thy presence
With these who call on Thee;
Their store of earthly gladness
Transform to heav'nly wine,
And teach them, in the tasting
To know the gift is Thine.
O Spirit of the Father,
Breathe on them from above,
So mighty in Thy pureness,
So tender in Thy love;
That, guarded by Thy presence,
From sin and strife kept free,
Their lives may own Thy guidance,
Their hearts be rul'd by Thee.
Except Thou build it, Father,
The house is built in vain;
Except Thou, Savior, bless it,
The joy will turn to pain;
But naught can break the union
Of hearts in Thee made one,
And love Thy Spirit hallow'd
Is endless love begun.
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 m (F♯), on the word “O”, 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 John Ellerton, first published in 1876. The tune, AURELIA, is by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1864). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1876): John Ellerton (1826–1893)
- Melody (1864): Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AURELIA by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876); words by John Ellerton (1826–1893). 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.
Sung to the same tune: The Church’s One Foundation.
Questions about O Father, All Creating
What is the doh of O Father, All Creating?
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 O Father, All Creating start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is O Father, All Creating in the public domain?
Yes. John Ellerton died in 1893, Samuel Sebastian Wesley died in 1876; the words were first published in 1876 and the music in 1864. 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.