Seems It in My Anguish Lone in Tonic Solfa
Seems It in My Anguish Lone in Tonic Solfa to INNOCENTS, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 10 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mSeems--fit | sin-d'my-tan--lguish- | slone---dAs--rif |
| mGod-sfor--fsook-mHis- | rown,---mYet--fI |
| shold-d'the-tknowl--ledge- | sfast---dGod--rwill |
| msure--fly-mhelp-rat- | dlast.--- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- INNOCENTS
- Words
- Christoph Titius, Catherine Winkworth
- Music
- French Melody, 13th cent., ascr., George Frederick Handel, The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by Christoph Titius (1641–1703); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Seems it in my anguish lone
As if God forsook His own,
Yet I hold the knowledge fast
God will surely help at last.
Though awhile it be delayed,
He denieth not His aid;
Though it come not oft with speed,
It will surely come at need.
As a father not too soon
Grants his child the longed-for boon,
So our God gives when He will;
Wait His pleasure and be still.
I can rest in thoughts of Him
When all courage else grows dim,
For I know my soul shall prove
His is more than father’s love.
Would the powers of ill affright,
I can smile at all their might;
Or the cross be pressing sore,
God, my God, lives evermore.
Man may hate me causelessly,
Man may plot to ruin me,
Foes my heart may pierce and rend;
God in heaven is still my Friend.
Earth against me may declare,
For her love I do not care;
Though the world bear me a grudge,
God, my Father, is my Judge.
Earth may all her gifts deny,
Safe my treasure is on high;
And if heaven at last be mine,
All things else I can resign.
I renounce thee willingly,
World, I hate what pleases thee.
Baneful every gift of thine;
Only be, my God, still mine.
Ah! Lord, if but Thee I have,
Naught of other good I crave;
Bright is even death’s dark road
If but Thou art there, my God.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (F♯), on the word “Seems”, 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
Christoph Titius wrote these words in German. Catherine Winkworth's translation was printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 516.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens (7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to INNOCENTS; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Christoph Titius (1641–1703)
- Translated: Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)
- Melody: French Melody, 13th cent.
- Music (1728): ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined)
- Melody (1850): The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by Christoph Titius (1641–1703); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878).
Sung to the same tune: Day by Day the Manna Fell, Forest Beasts, That Live by Prey, God of Mercy, Hear Our Prayer, Hail, All Hail the Joyful Morn, Hail, Thou Blessed Cross, All Hail, Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord, In the Dark of Early Morn, In Thy Courts Let Peace Be Found, Lord, My Times Are in Thy Hand, Peace! the Welcome Sound Proclaim, Sinners, Turn; Why Will Ye Die, Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled, Softly Fades the Twilight Ray, Songs of Praise the Angels Sang, They, Who on the Lord Rely, To Thy Temple I Repair, When Before Thy Throne We Kneel, Winter Has a Joy for Me.
Questions about Seems It in My Anguish Lone
What is the doh of Seems It in My Anguish Lone?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 Seems It in My Anguish Lone start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “Seems” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Seems It in My Anguish Lone in the public domain?
Yes. Christoph Titius died in 1703, Catherine Winkworth died in 1878, ascr., George Frederick Handel died in undefined; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1728. 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.