O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee in Tonic Solfa
O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- WIE SOLL ICH DICH EMPFANGE
- Words
- Paul Gerhardt, Anonymous
- Music
- Johann Crüger
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune WIE SOLL ICH DICH EMPFANGE by Johann Crüger (1598–1662); words by Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676); translated by Anonymous. Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dO--- | mLord,-fhow-sshall-sI- | fmeet---mThee,-fHow- |
| mwel--dcome-rThee-ra-- | dright?---dAll--- |
| mna--ftions-slong-sto- | fsee---mThee,-fMy- |
| mHope,-dmy-rheart's-rDe-- | dlight!---sO--- |
| lkin--tdle,-d'Lord,-tmost- | lho----sly,-mThy- |
| llamp-swith--fin-mmy- | rbreast,---mTo--- |
| ddo-rin-mspir--sit- | flow----mly-sAll- |
| fthat-mmay-rplease-rThee- | dbest.--- |
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 Eb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O Lord, how shall I meet Thee,
How welcome Thee aright?
All nations long to see Thee,
My Hope, my heart's Delight!
O kindle, Lord, most holy,
Thy lamp within my breast,
To do in spirit lowly
All that may please Thee best.
Thy Zion palms is strewing,
And branches fresh and fair;
My heart, its pow'rs renewing,
An anthem shall prepare.
My soul puts off her sadness
Thy glories to proclaim;
With all her strength and gladness
She fain would serve Thy Name.
What hast Thou left ungranted
To give me glad relief?
When soul and body panted
In utmost depth of grief,
In deepest degradation,
Devoid of joy and peace,
Then, Thou, my soul's Salvation,
Didst come to bring release.
I lay in fetters groaning,
Thou com'st to set me free;
I stood, my shame bemoaning,
Thou com'st to honor me.
A glory Thou dost give me,
A treasure safe on high,
That will not fail nor leave me
As earthly riches fly.
Love caused Thine incarnation
Love brought Thee down to me;
Thy thirst for my salvation
Procured my liberty.
O love beyond all telling,
That led Thee to embrace,
In love all love excelling,
Our lost and fallen race!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 d (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. 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 1653. The tune, WIE SOLL ICH DICH EMPFANGE, is by Johann Crüger (1653). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1653): Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676)
- Translated (1884): Anonymous
- Music (1653): Johann Crüger (1598–1662)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune WIE SOLL ICH DICH EMPFANGE by Johann Crüger (1598–1662); words by Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676); translated by Anonymous. 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 Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee
What is the doh of O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee in the public domain?
Yes. Paul Gerhardt died in 1676, Johann Crüger died in 1662; the words were first published in 1884 and the music in 1653. 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.