O Grieve Not So, nor So Lament in Tonic Solfa
O Grieve Not So, nor So Lament in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (E♭)
- Range
- s, to s (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- ERFURT
- Words
- Paul Gerhardt, Sarah Laurie Findlater (nee Borthwick)
- Music
- Ludwig Herman Ilse
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ERFURT by Ludwig Herman Ilse (1845–1931); words by Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676); translated by Sarah Laurie Findlater (nee Borthwick) (1823–1907). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,O--- | l,grieve-t,not-dso,-rnor- | mso-rla--dment,-mMy- |
| ssoul!-fnor-mtrou--dbled- | rsigh,---s,Be---- |
| l,cause-t,some-djoys-rto- | mo--rthers-dsent-mYour- |
| sFa--fther-mmay-dde-- | rny;---rTake--- |
| rall-t,as-dlove-rthat- | mseems-fese--svere-fThere- |
| mis-sno-t,want-dif- | rGod---ris--- |
| dnear.--- |
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 Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O grieve not so, nor so lament,
My soul! nor troubled sigh,
Because some joys to others sent
Your Father may deny;
Take all as love that seems severe
There is no want if God is near.
There is no right you can demand,
No title you can claim;
For all are strangers in the land
Who bear the human name:
Earth and its treasures are the Lord's,
And He the lot of each accords.
How thankless art you, child of man!
For favors that abound;
Your God has giv'n you eyes to scan
The glory all around;
Yet seldom for this priceless sight,
Have you been heard to praise aright.
Number your limbs, your members tell,
And ask your thankless soul,
If to another you would sell
The smallest of them all.
There is not one from which your heart
Would willingly submit to part.
Now, go and search the depths of mind,
Explore its wondrous pow'r,
New proofs of benefits to find,
That meet you ev'ry hour;
More than the sand upon the shore,
And ever rising more and more.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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, (E♭), 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 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
The words are by Paul Gerhardt, first published in 1923. The English translation is by Sarah Laurie Findlater (nee Borthwick) (1854). The tune, ERFURT, is by Ludwig Herman Ilse (1910). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1923): Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676)
- Translated (1854): Sarah Laurie Findlater (nee Borthwick) (1823–1907)
- Music (1910): Ludwig Herman Ilse (1845–1931)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ERFURT by Ludwig Herman Ilse (1845–1931); words by Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676); translated by Sarah Laurie Findlater (nee Borthwick) (1823–1907). 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 O Grieve Not So, nor So Lament
What is the doh of O Grieve Not So, nor So Lament?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 Grieve Not So, nor So Lament start on?
It starts on s, (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is O Grieve Not So, nor So Lament in the public domain?
Yes. Paul Gerhardt died in 1676, Sarah Laurie Findlater (nee Borthwick) died in 1907, Ludwig Herman Ilse died in 1931; the words were first published in 1923 and the music in 1910. 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.