Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled in Tonic Solfa
Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled in Tonic Solfa to INNOCENTS, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mSlow---fly, | sby-d'God's-thand-lun-- | sfurled,---dDown--ra- |
| mround-sthe-fwea--mry- | rworld---mFalls--fthe |
| sdark--d'ness;-tO,-lhow- | sstill---dIs--rthe |
| mwork--fing-mof-rHis- | dwill!--- |
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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
- Music
- French Melody, 13th cent., ascr., George Frederick Handel, The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by William Henry Furness (1802–1896). 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
Slowly, by God's hand unfurled,
Down around the weary world
Falls the darkness; O, how still
Is the working of His will!
Mighty spirit, ever nigh!
Work in me as silently;
Veil the day's distracting sights,
Show me heaven's eternal lights.
Living stars to view be brought
In the boundless realms of thought;
High and infinite desires,
Flaming like those upper fires!
Holy Truth, Eternal Right,
Let them break upon my sight;
Let them shine serene and still,
And with light my being fill.
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 first syllable of “Slowly”, 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
William Henry Furness 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 371, “The Light of Stars”. The compilers changed some of the words, and this is their version.
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: William Henry Furness (1802–1896)
- 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 William Henry Furness (1802–1896).
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, Seems It in My Anguish Lone, Sinners, Turn; Why Will Ye Die, 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 Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled
What is the doh of Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled?
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 Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Slowly” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled in the public domain?
Yes. William Henry Furness died in 1896, ascr., George Frederick Handel died in undefined; the words were in print by 1848 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.