Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light in Tonic Solfa
Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light in Tonic Solfa to HEINLEIN, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 8 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mSin,-mwhen-l,viewed-t,by- | dscrip--rture-mlight,--- |
| mIs-ma-shor--srid,- | fehate--feful-msight;--- |
| mBut-mwhen-fseen-fin- | rSa--rtan's-mglass,--- |
| mThen-mit-rwears-da- | t,pleas--t,ing-l,face.--- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- D minor
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- l, to s (D to C, a seventh)
- Tune
- HEINLEIN
- Words
- John Newton
- Music
- Martin Herbst, Nurnberg
Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (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 · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Sin, when viewed by scripture light,
Is a horrid, hateful sight;
But when seen in Satan's glass,
Then it wears a pleasing face.
When the gospel trumpet sounds,
When I think how grace abounds,
When I feel sweet peace within,
Then I'd rather die than sin.
When the cross I view by faith,
Sin is madness, poison, death;
Tempt me not, 'tis all in vain,
Sure I ne'er can yield again.
Satan, for awhile debarred,
When he finds me off my guard,
Puts his glass before my eyes,
Quickly other thoughts arise.
What before excited fears,
Rather pleasing now appears;
If a sin, it seems so small,
Or, perhaps, no sin at all.
Often thus, through sin's deceit,
Grief, and shame, and loss I meet,
Like a fish, my soul mistook,
Saw the bait, but not the hook.
O my Lord, what shall I say?
How can I presume to pray?
Not a word have I to plead,
Sins, like mine, are black indeed!
Made, by past experience, wise,
Let me learn thy word to prize;
Taught by what I've felt before,
Let me Satan's glass abhor.
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. 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
John Newton wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book III, hymn 76, “Sin's deceit”.
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 HEINLEIN; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Newton (1725–1807)
- Music, attributed (1676): Martin Herbst (died undefined)
- Music (1676): Nurnberg (died undefined)
Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (died undefined); words by John Newton (1725–1807).
Sung to the same tune: All Ye Nations, Praise the Lord, As the Sun's Enliv'ning Eye, Bless, O Lord, Each Opening Year, Child, Amidst the Flowers at Play, Clay to Clay, and Dust to Dust, Father! We Look Up to Thee, Forty Days and Forty Nights, Gently Fall the Dews of Eve, Heavenly Father! to Whose Eye, High, in Yonder Realms of Light, Jesu, Shall I Never Be, Let Me Dwell on Golgotha, Light Is Dawning 'Mong the Hills, Lord! Subdue Our Selfish Will, Mighty One, Before Whose Face, Now the Shades of Night Are Gone, Praise, O Praise Our God and King, See, the World for Youth Prepares, Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth, Thine Forever, God of Love, Thou Who Roll’st the Year Around, While I Lived Without the Lord.
Questions about Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light
What is the doh of Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light?
In this version, in D minor, 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, When Viewed by Scripture Light start on?
It starts on m (A in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Martin Herbst died in undefined, Nurnberg died in undefined; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1676. 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.