Oh, Blest the House in Tonic Solfa
Oh, Blest the House in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 6 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
- WO GOTT ZUM HAUS
- Words
- Christoph Karl Ludwig von Pfeil, Catherine Winkworth
- Music
- From Klug's Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1533
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune WO GOTT ZUM HAUS (From Klug's Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1533); words by Christoph Karl Ludwig von Pfeil (1712–1784); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dOh---sblest-sthe- | mhouse,-rwhat--me'er-febe-- |
| sfall,--sWheremJe--ssus- | fChrist-sis-mAll-rin- |
| dAll;--sYea,lif-lHe- | mwere-snot-fdwell--fing- |
| mthere,--d'Howtpoor-land- | sdark-land-fvoidm_rit- |
| dwere!------- |
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
Oh blest the house, whate'er befall,
Where Jesus Christ is All in All;
Yea, if He were not dwelling there,
How poor and dark and void it were!
Oh blest that house where faith ye find,
And all within have set their mind
To trust their God and serve Him still,
And do in all His holy will.
Blest, where their prayers shall daily rise
As fragrant incense to the skies,
While in their lives the world is taught
That forms without the heart are naught.
Blest, where the busy hands fulfil
Their proper task with ready skill,
While through their different works ye see
One spirit run of unity.
Blest such a house, it prospers well,
In peace and joy the parents dwell,
And in their children's lot is shown
How richly God can bless His own.
Then here will I and mine to-day
A solemn covenant make, and say,--
Though all the world forsake Thy Word,
I and my house will serve the Lord.
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♭).
- 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 Christoph Karl Ludwig von Pfeil, first published in 1735. The English translation is by Catherine Winkworth (1863). The tune, WO GOTT ZUM HAUS, is from Klug's Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1533. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1735): Christoph Karl Ludwig von Pfeil (1712–1784)
- Translated (1863): Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)
- Melody (1533): From Klug's Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1533
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune WO GOTT ZUM HAUS (From Klug's Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1533); words by Christoph Karl Ludwig von Pfeil (1712–1784); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). 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: Happy the Man Who Feareth God (Wo Gott Zum Haus), The Star Proclaims the King Is Here.
Questions about Oh, Blest the House
What is the doh of Oh, Blest the House?
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 Oh, Blest the House start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Oh, Blest the House in the public domain?
Yes. Christoph Karl Ludwig von Pfeil died in 1784, Catherine Winkworth died in 1878; the words were first published in 1863 and the music in 1533. 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.