Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well in Tonic Solfa
Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well in Tonic Solfa to FRANCONIA, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 9 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dOur- | rLord,-mwho-fknows-sfull- | mwell-----sThe- |
| lheart-d'of-fev--mery- | rsaint;-----sIn-- |
| d'vites-tus,-lby-sa- | lpa--lra--sble,-sTo- |
| dpray-mand-rnev--rer- | dfaint.----- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- FRANCONIA
- Words
- John Newton
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FRANCONIA by Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758); words by John Newton (1725–1807). 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 · 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
Our Lord, who knows full well
The heart of every saint;
Invites us, by a parable,
To pray and never faint.
He bows his gracious ear,
We never plead in vain;
Yet we must wait, till he appear,
And pray, and pray again.
Though unbelief suggest,
Why should we longer wait?
He bids us never give him rest,
But be importunate.
'Twas thus a widow poor,
Without support or friend,
Beset the unjust judge's door,
And gained, at last, her end.
For her he little cared,
As little for the laws;
Nor God, nor man, did he regard,
Yet he espoused her cause.
She urged him day and night,
Would no denial take;
At length he said, "I'll do her right,
For my own quiet sake."
And shall not Jesus hear
His chosen, when they cry?
Yes, though he may awhile forbear,
He'll help them from on high.
His nature, truth and love,
Engage him on their side;
When they are grieved, his bowels move,
And can they be denied?
Then let us earnest be,
And never faint in prayer;
He loves our importunity,
And makes our cause his care.
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 “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. 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 Newton wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book I, hymn 106, “The importunate widow Lk 18:1-7”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Short Metre (6.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to FRANCONIA; any other Short Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Newton (1725–1807)
- Music (1738): Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FRANCONIA by Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758); words by John Newton (1725–1807). 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: "No More, on Earth No More, Behold the Lofty Sky, Blest Are the Pure in Heart, Come, All Harmonious Tongues, Father, This Slumber Shake, Forever with the Lord, From Egypt Lately Freed, Glad Was My Heart to Hear, God, Who Is Just and Kind, How Sweet to Bless the Lord, How Swift the Torrent Rolls, Jesus Invites His Friends, Jesus, the Friend of Man, Let Every Creature Join, My Father! Cheering Name, O! Know Ye Not That Ye, Our Heavenly Father Calls, Saviour, Thy Law We Love, Shall Wisdom Cry Aloud, The Lord on High Proclaims, The Year Begins with Thee, This Soul Reviving Wine, To God the Only Wise, Well, the Redeemer's Gone, Within the Father's House.
Questions about Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well
What is the doh of Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well?
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 Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the word “Our” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Our Lord, Who Knows Full Well in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Johann Balthasar König died in 1758; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1738. 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.