Sin Has Undone Our Wretched Race in Tonic Solfa
Sin Has Undone Our Wretched Race in Tonic Solfa to WINCHESTER OLD, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 6 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dSin- | mhas--mun-rdone-dour- | fwret--fched-mrace,-rBut- |
| mJe--ssus-shas-fere-- | sstored-----mAnd- |
| lbrought--sthefsin--mner- | rface-dto-t,face-mWith- |
| rhis-dfor--dgiv--t,ing- | dLord.--- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- t, to l (E to D, a seventh)
- Tune
- WINCHESTER OLD
- Words
- William Cowper
- Music
- Thomas Este, George Kirbye
Tune WINCHESTER OLD by Thomas Este (died undefined) and George Kirbye (died 1634); words by William Cowper (1731–1800). 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 · 4/4
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
Sin has undone our wretched race,
But Jesus has restored
And brought the sinner face to face
With his forgiving Lord.
This we repeat from year to year,
And press upon our youth;
Lord, give them an attentive ear,
Lord, save them by thy truth.
Blessings upon the rising race!
Make this an happy hour,
According to thy richest grace,
And thine almighty pow'r.
We feel for your unhappy state,
(May you regard it too)
And would awhile ourselves forget,
To pour out prayer for you.
We see, though you perceive it not,
Th' approaching, aweful doom;
O tremble at the solemn thought,
And flee the wrath to come!
Dear Savior, let this new-born year
Spread an alarm abroad;
And cry, in every careless ear,
"Prepare to meet thy God!"
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 d (F), on the word “Sin”, 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 fe. 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
William Cowper wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book II, hymn 11, “Pleading for and with youth”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre (8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to WINCHESTER OLD; any other Common Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Cowper (1731–1800)
- Music (Whole Book of Psalmes, 1592): Thomas Este (died undefined)
- Arranged (tenor lead): George Kirbye (died 1634)
Tune WINCHESTER OLD by Thomas Este (died undefined) and George Kirbye (died 1634); words by William Cowper (1731–1800).
Sung to the same tune: "I Am, Saith Christ Our Glorious Head, "Simon, Beware! the Savior Said, "Why Has My God My Soul Forsook, All Hail! Ye Servants of the Lord, Approach, My Soul, the Mercy-seat, As Twilight's Gradual Veil Is Spread, Blest Is the Nation Where the Lord, Come, Shout Aloud the Father's Grace, Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul, Dearest of All the Names Above, Down Headlong from Their Native Skies, Father of Light! Conduct My Feet, God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength, Hail! Father, Son, and Spirit Great, Have Pity, Lord, for Thou Are Great, Hence from My Soul, Sad Thoughts, Be Gone, How Are Thy Glories Here Display'd, How Blest Thy Creature Is, O God, How Large the Promise! How Divine, How Short and Hasty Is Our Life, I Love the Windows of Thy Grace, In Anger, Lord, Rebuke Me Not, In God's Own House Pronounce His Praise, In Mercy, Not in Wrath, Rebuke, In Vain We Thus Recall to Mind, Jesus Hath Died That I Might Live, Jesus, I Love Thy Charming Name, Joy Is a Fruit That Will Not Grow, Let the Whole Race of Creatures Lie, Lord of the Families Below, Lord, Lead the Way the Saviour Went, Lord, We Adore Thy Bounteous Hand, Lovers of Pleasure More Than God, My God! Till I Received Thy Stroke, My Heart Rejoices in Thy Name, Now from the Altar of Our Hearts, O Ever Ready to Forgive, O God! to Thee Our Hearts Would Pay, O Lord, Another Day Is Flown, O Thou Who Driest the Mourner's Tear, O Word of Truth! in Devious Paths, Oft as the Leper's Case I Read, Oh God, That Mad'st the Earth and Sky, Oh God! Thy Name They Well May Praise, Oh, If My Soul Was Form'd for Woe, Once More, My Soul, the Rising Day, Once Perishing in Blood I Lay, Praise God the Lord, Ye Sons of Men, Raise Thee, My Soul, Fly Up, and Run, Salvation! What a Glorious Plan, See Aaron, God's Anointed Priest, Shine Forth, Eternal Source of Light, Shine, Mighty God, on Britain Shine, Sight, Hearing, Feeling, Taste and Smell, Sin Like a Venomous Disease, Talk with Us, Lord, Thyself Reveal, The God of Mercy Be Ador'd, The Grass, and Flow'rs, Which Clothe the Field, The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns, The Lion That on Sampson Roared, The Lord Appears My Helper Now, The Savior Calls; Let Every Ear, Thee We Adore, Eternal Name, There Is a Land of Pure Delight, There Is a World We Have Not Seen, Through All the Changing Scenes of Life, Through Endless Years Thou Art the Same, Through Thee We Now Together Came, Uncertain How the Way to Find, Unshaken as the Sacred Hill, Up from My Youth, May Israel Say, We Come, O Lord, Before Thy Throne, We Sing the Glories of Thy Love, We Wait in Faith, in Prayer We Wait, What Shall We Ask of God in Prayer, When in the Light of Faith Divine, When Israel Heard the Fiery Law, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, Who Shall Inhabit in Thy Hill, Who Will Arise and Plead My Right, Why Do We Mourn Departed Friends, Why Is My Heart So Far from Thee, Will God for Ever Cast Us Off, With Joy We Meditate the Grace, With Songs and Honours Sounding Loud.
Questions about Sin Has Undone Our Wretched Race
What is the doh of Sin Has Undone Our Wretched Race?
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 Sin Has Undone Our Wretched Race start on?
It starts on d (F in F major), a pickup on the word “Sin” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Sin Has Undone Our Wretched Race in the public domain?
Yes. William Cowper died in 1800, Thomas Este died in undefined, George Kirbye died in 1634; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1592. 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.