Our Father — Ever Living in Tonic Solfa
Our Father — Ever Living 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
| dOur- | rFa--dther-fev--mer- | rliv----ding!-mOnce- |
| smore-d'thy-tchild--seren- | lcome,-----lIn- |
| sjoy-mand-mtrue-rthanks-- | dgiv----ring,-mTo- |
| mthis-mtheir-rgos--dpel- | rhome.-----rU-- |
| fni--mted-lfrom-tdis-- | d'sen----r'sion-sKept- |
| m'by--m'thyr'good--d'ness- | tfree-----lA-- |
| sgain-min-mglad-rCon-- | dven----rtion-mOur- |
| mvows-mwe-rpay--dto | dthee.----- |
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- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (C)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- EWING
- Words
- John Greenleaf Adams
- 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 John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887). 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
Our Father — ever living!
Once more thy children come,
In joy and true thanksgiving,
To this their gospel home.
United — from dissension
Kept by thy goodness free —
Again in glad Convention
Our vows we pay to thee.
The Past! Its ways are beaming
With thy sure mercies, Lord —
Thy truth and grace redeeming,
Sent o'er the earth abroad,
The hoary shrines of error
Have cast aside; and free
From darkness, doubt, and terror
Its children come to thee.
The Present! Loudly sounding,
Its cheering tones are heard;
Be our full hearts abounding
In its strong Hope and Word!
Be strength and wisdom, Father!
Bestowing what we need,
Truth's harvest-sheaves to gather —
Christ's kingdom here to speed.
The Future! Indications
Of mightier works are there: —
Truth's promised revelations;
Thine arm of power made bare;
From sin's dread reign exemption:
Man's life in Christ, divine;
The erring world's redemption;
The glory, Father, thine!
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 “Our”, 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
John Greenleaf Adams wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 728 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “The Same”.
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: John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887)
- 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 John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887). 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, O Word of God Incarnate, The Joy of Earth Is Fleeting.
Questions about Our Father — Ever Living
What is the doh of Our Father — Ever Living?
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 Our Father — Ever Living start on?
It starts on d (C in C major), a pickup on the word “Our” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Our Father — Ever Living in the public domain?
Yes. John Greenleaf Adams died in 1887, Alexander C. Ewing died in 1895; the words were in print by 1853 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.