Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears in Tonic Solfa

Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears in Tonic Solfa to ALL SAINTS, NEW, doh is Bb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Bb4/4

sOur-

mpath---fwaysoft-d'is-

d'wet--twithttears,-d'Our-

r'sky-m'with-f'clouds-m'o'er--

r'cast,-----r'And-

m'world---r'lyd'cares-tand-

tworld---llylfears-lGo-

swith-d'us-tto--d'the

d'last;-----d'Not-

d'to-d'the-tlast!-tGod's-

lword--lhathlsaid,-lCould-

swe-sbut-sread-sa--

sright:-----fO-

mpil---fgrim!slift-d'in-

d'hope--tthythead,-d'At-

m'eve-r'it-d'shall-tbe-

d'light!-----

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Key: Bb major
Doh: Bb
Time: 4/4
Starts on: s (F)
Range: m to f' (D to E♭, a ninth)
Tune: ALL SAINTS, NEW
Words: Bernard Barton
Music: Henry Stephen Cutler

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Bernard Barton (1784–1849). 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 Bb · 4/4

| s - Our| m - - f s - d' - pathway oft is| d' - - t t - d' - |wet with tears, Our

| r' - m' - f' - m' - sky with clouds o'er-| r' - - - - - r' - |cast, And

| m' - - r' d' - t - worldly cares and| t - - l l - l - |worldly fears Go

| s - d' - t - - d' with us to the| d' - - - - - d' - |last; Not

| d' - d' - t - t - to the last! God's| l - - l l - l - |word hath said, Could

| s - s - s - s - we but read a-| s - - - - - f - |right: O

| m - - f s - d' - pilgrim! lift in| d' - - t t - d' - |hope thy head, At

| m' - r' - d' - t - eve it shall be| d' - - - - - |light!

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in Bb major, with the first verse under the notes.

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

Our pathway oft is wet with tears,
Our sky with clouds o'ercast,
And worldly cares and worldly fears
Go with us to the last; —
Not to the last! God's word hath said,
Could we but read aright:
O pilgrim! lift in hope thy head,
At eve it shall be light!

Though earth-born shadows now may shroud
Our toilsome path a while,
God's blessed word can part each cloud,
And bid the sunshine smile.
If we but trust in living faith,
His love and power divine,
Then, though our sun may set in death,
His light shall round us shine.

When tempest-clouds are dark on high,
His bow of love and peace
Shines beauteous in the vaulted sky,
Token that storms shall cease.
Then keep we on, with hope unchilled,
By faith and not by sight,
And we shall own his word fulfilled, —
"At eve it shall be light."

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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 s (F), 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

Bernard Barton wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 331, “At Evening There Shall Be Light”. The compilers changed some of the words, and this is their version.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre Double (8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ALL SAINTS, NEW; any other Common Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Words: Bernard Barton (1784–1849)
Music (1872): Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902)

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Bernard Barton (1784–1849).

Sung to the same tune: All Nature's Works His Praise Declare, Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste, Father, When O'er Our Trembling Hearts, God of All Grace and Majesty, I Looked upon the Righteous Man, Jesus, My Master and My Lord, Lord, Soothe My Anxious, Troubled Soul, Now Gird Your Patient Loins Again, O Where Are Kings and Empires Now, O, Not Alone with Outward Sign, O, Who Shall See the Glorious Day, Oh! Not Alone with Outward Sign, The Aged Sufferer Waited Long, Thy Servants in the Temple Watched, When, on Devotion's Seraph Wing.

Questions about Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears

What is the doh of Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears?

In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears start on?

It starts on s (F in Bb major), a pickup on the word “Our” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears in the public domain?

Yes. Bernard Barton died in 1849, Henry Stephen Cutler died in 1902; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1872. 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.