O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art in Tonic Solfa
O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art in Tonic Solfa to MERIBAH, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 6 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dO--- | mlove--mdi-mvine,-rhow-msweet-fthou- | sart!-------mWhen--- |
| lshall--lIlfind-smy-fwill--ming- | rheart-------sAll--- |
| tta--lken-sup---feby--- | sthee?-------sI--- |
| d'thirst,-sI-sfaint,-mI-fdie-lto- | sprove-------sThe--- |
| d'great--sness-sof-mre--fdeem--ling- | slove,-------dThe--- |
| rlove-fof-mChrist---rto--- | dme!------- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- MERIBAH
- Words
- Charles Wesley
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune MERIBAH by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788). 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 Eb · 3/2
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 love divine, how sweet thou art!
When shall I find my willing heart
All taken up by thee?
I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
The greatness of redeeming love,
The love of Christ to me!
Stronger his love than death or hell;
Its riches are unsearchable;
The first-born sons of light
Desire in vain its depths to see,
They cannot reach the mystery,
The length, and breadth, and height.
God only knows the love of God;
O that it now were shed abroad
In this poor stony heart!
For love I sigh, for love I pine:
This only portion, Lord, be mine,
Be mine this better part!
O that I could for ever sit
With Mary at the Master's feet!
Be this my happy choice:
My only care, delight, and bliss,
My joy, my heaven on earth, be this,
To hear the Bridegroom's voice!
O that with humbled Peter I
Could weep, believe, and thrice reply
My faithfulness to prove,
"Thou know'st (for all to thee is known),
"Thou know'st, O Lord, and thou alone,
Thou know'st that thee I love!"
O that I could with favoured John
Recline my weary head upon
The great Redeemer's breast!
From care, and sin, and sorrow free,
Give me, O Lord, to find in thee
My everlasting rest.
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. 3/2 means three minim 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
Charles Wesley wrote these words. His brother John printed them in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 147.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Common Particular Metre (8.8.6.8.8.6), and this page sets them to MERIBAH; any other Common Particular Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Music (1839): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune MERIBAH by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788).
Sung to the same tune: At Early Dawn, with Pious Thought, Be It My Only Wisdom Here, Blinded in Youth by Satan's Arts, But We from Such Assaults Are Freed, Except the Lord Conduct the Plan, How Happy, Gracious Lord! Are We, If Solid Happiness We Prize, Light of My Life, O Lord, Thou Art, Lord, Thou Hast Won, at Length I Yield, May We Thy Precepts, Lord, Fulfil, O God of Life, in Whom We Live, O Lord! How Happy Should We Be, O, Could We Speak the Matchless Worth, The Joyful Morn, My God, Is Come, Thou God of Glorious Majesty, When, Lord, to This Our Western Land.
Questions about O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art
What is the doh of O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art?
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 Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art 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 Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1839. 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.