Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth in Tonic Solfa
Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth in Tonic Solfa to HEINLEIN, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mSoul!-mce--l,les--t,tial- | din-rthy-mbirth,--- |
| mDwell--ming-syet-sin- | felow--feest-mearth,--- |
| mPant--ming,-fshrink--fing- | rto-rbe-mfree,--- |
| mHear-mGod's-rspir--dit- | t,whis--t,per-l,thee.--- |
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- Key
- D minor
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- l, to s (D to C, a seventh)
- Tune
- HEINLEIN
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- Martin Herbst, Nurnberg
Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (died undefined); words by Anonymous. 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
Soul! celestial in thy birth,
Dwelling yet in lowest earth,
Panting, shrinking to be free,
Hear God's spirit whisper thee.
Thus it saith; in accents mild, —
"Weary wanderer, wayward child,
From thy Father's earnest love
Still forever wilt thou rove?
"Turn to hope, and peace, and light,
Freed from sin, and earth, and night;
I have called, entreated thee,
In my mercies gentle, free.
"Human soul, in love divine
I have sought to make thee mine;
Still for thee good angels yearn;
Human soul, return, return!"
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
These words were printed without an author's name in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 197, “Come Home!”, where the book credits them to Briggs' Collection.
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: Anonymous
- 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 Anonymous.
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, Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light, Thine Forever, God of Love, Thou Who Roll’st the Year Around, While I Lived Without the Lord.
Questions about Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth
What is the doh of Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth?
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 Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth start on?
It starts on m (A in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth in the public domain?
Yes. Martin Herbst died in undefined, Nurnberg died in undefined; the words were in print by 1848 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.