O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High in Tonic Solfa
O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 8 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- C# minor
- Doh
- E
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- l (C♯)
- Range
- l, to l (C♯ to C♯, an octave)
- Tune
- DEO GRACIAS
- Words
- Anonymous, Benjamin Webb
- Music
- Traditional English
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune DEO GRACIAS (traditional English); words by Anonymous; translated by Benjamin Webb (1819–1885). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| lO- | llove,---show- | ldeep,---show- | sbroad,-fhow--- | mhigh,---lHow- |
| lpass--s_-ming- | rthought-m_-randl,_ | dfan--t,ta---- | l,sy,---mThat- |
| sGod,---sthe- | lSon-s_-fof- | mGod,-rshould--- | dtake---dOur- |
| mmor----mtal- | rform---dfor- | dmor--t,tals'--- | l,sake!--- |
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 E · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C# minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
How passing thought and fantasy,
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortals' sake!
He sent no angel to our race
Of higher or of lower place,
But wore the robe of human frame
And He Himself, to this world came.
Nor willed He only to appear;
His pleasure was to tarry here;
And God and Man with man would be
The space of thirty years and three.
For us baptized, for us He bore
His holy fast and hungered sore,
For us temptations sharp He knew;
For us the tempter overthrew.
For us He prayed; for us He taught;
For us His daily works He wrought;
By words and signs and actions thus
Still seeking not Himself, but us.
For us to wicked men betrayed,
Scourged, mocked, in crown of thorns arrayed,
For us He bore the cross's death,
For us at length gave up His breath.
For us He rose from death again;
For us He went on high to reign;
For us He sent His Spirit here,
To guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.
D All honor, laud, and glory be,
O Jesus, virgin-born to Thee!
All glory, as is ever meet
To Father and to Paraclete.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum E 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 l (C♯), on the word “O”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/4 means three 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 anonymous, in print by 1500. The English translation is by Benjamin Webb (1852). The tune, DEO GRACIAS, is Traditional English. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1500): Anonymous
- Translated (1852): Benjamin Webb (1819–1885)
- Melody (1415): Traditional English
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune DEO GRACIAS (traditional English); words by Anonymous; translated by Benjamin Webb (1819–1885). 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: O Wondrous Type, O Vision Fair.
Questions about O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High
What is the doh of O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High?
In this version, in C# minor, doh is E. 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, How Deep, How Broad, How High start on?
It starts on l (C♯ in C# minor), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to l.
Is O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High in the public domain?
Yes. Benjamin Webb died in 1885; the words were first published in 1852 and the music in 1415. 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.