O Word of God Incarnate in Tonic Solfa
O Word of God Incarnate in Tonic Solfa to EWING, doh is C: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dO- | rWord-dof-fGod-mIn-- | rcar----dnate,-mO- |
| sWis--d'dom-tfrom-seon- | lhigh,-----lO- |
| sTruth-mun--mchanged,-run-- | dchang----ring,-mO- |
| mLight-mof-rour-ddark- | rsky,—-----rWe- |
| fpraise-mThee-lfor-tthe- | d'ra----r'diance-sThat- |
| m'from--m'ther'hal--d'lowed- | tpage,-----lA- |
| slan--mtern-mto-rour- | dfoot----rsteps,-mShines- |
| mon-mfrom-rage--dto | dage.----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (C)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- EWING
- Words
- William Walsham How
- Music
- Alexander C. Ewing
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EWING by Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895); words by William Walsham How (1823–1897). 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 C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O Word of God Incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky,—
We praise Thee for the radiance
That from the hallowed page,
A lantern to our footsteps,
Shines on from age to age.
The Church from her dear Master
Received the gift divine,
And still that light she lifteth
O’er all the earth to shine.
It is the golden casket,
Where gems of truth are stored;
It is the heaven-drawn picture
Of Christ, the living Word.
It floateth like a banner
Before God’s host unfurled;
It shineth like a beacon
Above the darkling world;
It is the chart and compass
That o’er life’s surging sea,
Mid mists and rocks and quicksands,
Still guides, O Christ, to Thee.
Oh, make Thy Church, dear Savior,
A lamp of burnished gold,
To bear before the nations
Thy true light as of old;
Oh, teach Thy wandering pilgrims
By this their path to trace,
Till, clouds and darkness ended,
They see Thee face to face.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 (C), 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 se. 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
William Walsham How wrote these words. They were printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 113.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens and Sixes Double (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to EWING; any other Sevens and Sixes Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Walsham How (1823–1897)
- Music (1853): Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EWING by Alexander C. Ewing (1830–1895); words by William Walsham How (1823–1897). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune 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: "Remember Thy Creator", Hail to the Lord's Anointed, Jerusalem the Golden, Let Me Be Thine Forever, O Living Bread from Heaven, Our Father — Ever Living, The Joy of Earth Is Fleeting.
Questions about O Word of God Incarnate
What is the doh of O Word of God Incarnate?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Word of God Incarnate start on?
It starts on d (C in C major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is O Word of God Incarnate in the public domain?
Yes. William Walsham How died in 1897, Alexander C. Ewing died in 1895; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1853. 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.