See! Another Year Is Gone in Tonic Solfa
See! Another Year Is Gone in Tonic Solfa to MARTYN, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mSee!---man--moth----der- | ryear---ris-rgone!----- |
| mQuick----mly-shave---fthe- | msea------rsons----- |
| dpast!----------- | mThis---mwe-men----dter- |
| rnow---rup--ron----- | mMay---mto-sman----fy- |
| mprove-----rour----- | dlast.----------- |
| sMer----scy-shith----ser-- | lto-----lhas----- |
| sspared,----------- | sBut---shave-smer----scies- |
| lbeen-----lim------ | sproved?----------- |
| mLet---mus-mask,---dam- | rI---rpre--rpared----- |
| mShould---mI-sbe---fthis- | myear-----rre------ |
| dmoved?----------- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 6/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- d to l (F to D, a sixth)
- Tune
- MARTYN
- Words
- John Newton
- Music
- Simeon B. Marsh
Tune MARTYN by Simeon B. Marsh (died undefined); 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 F · 6/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
See! another year is gone!
Quickly have the seasons past!
This we enter now upon
May to many prove our last.
Mercy hitherto has spared,
But have mercies been improved?
Let us ask, am I prepared
Should I be this year removed?
Some we now no longer see,
Who their mortal race have run;
Seemed as fair for life as we,
When the former year begun
Some, but who God only knows,
Who are here assembled now;
Ere the present year shall close,
To the stroke of death must bow.
Life a field of battle is,
Thousands fall within our view;
And the next death-bolt that flies,
May be sent to me or you:
While we preach, and while we hear,
Help us, Lord, each one, to think,
Vast eternity is near,
I am standing on the brink.
If from guilt and sin set free,
By the knowledge of thy grace;
Welcome, then, the call will be
To depart and see thy face:
To thy saints, while here below,
With new years, new mercies come;
But the happiest year they know
Is their last, which leads them home.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 m (A).
- Count the time. 6/4 means six crotchet beats (two dotted minims) 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. 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 II, hymn 3, “Uncertainty of life”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens Double (7.7.7.7.7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to MARTYN; any other Sevens Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Newton (1725–1807)
- Music (1834): Simeon B. Marsh (died undefined)
Tune MARTYN by Simeon B. Marsh (died undefined); words by John Newton (1725–1807).
Sung to the same tune: Christ, by Heav’nly Hosts Adored, God, from Whom All Blessings Flow, Light of Life, Seraphic Fire, Men! Whose Boast It Is That Ye, Omnipresent God! Whose Aid, Other Ground Can No Man Lay, Pensive, Doubting, Fearful Heart, Saved by Blood I Live to Tell, See the Gloomy Gath'ring Cloud, Though the Morn May Be Serene, Time, with an Unwearied Hand.
Questions about See! Another Year Is Gone
What is the doh of See! Another Year Is Gone?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. 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 See! Another Year Is Gone start on?
It starts on m (A in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is See! Another Year Is Gone in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Simeon B. Marsh died in undefined; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1834. 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.