The Advent of Our God in Tonic Solfa
The Advent of Our God in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 6 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to l (D to E, a ninth)
- Tune
- ST. THOMAS
- Words
- Charles (or Carolo or Carolus) Coffin, John Chandler
- Music
- Aaron Williams
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ST. THOMAS by Aaron Williams (1731–1776); words by Charles (or Carolo or Carolus) Coffin (1676–1749); translated by John Chandler (1806–1876). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,The- | dad--dvent-mof-rourd_ | rGod-----mShallf_ |
| sbe-fourm_ftheme-mfor- | rprayer-----sCome,- |
| mlet-dus-rmeet-s,him- | donr_mthefe_sroad--sAnd |
| lplace-sforf_mHim-rpre-- | dpare.----- |
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 WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is G · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
The advent of our God
Shall be our theme for prayer
Come, let us meet him on the road
And place for Him prepare.
The everlasting Son
Incarnate stoops to be,
Himself the servant's form puts on
To set His people free.
Come, Zion's daughter, rise
To meet your lowly King,
Nor let your faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring.
As judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again
And all His scattered saints unite
With Him on high to reign.
Before the dawning day
Let sin be put to flight;
No longer let the law hold sway,
But walk in freedom's light.
D All glory to the Son
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever One,
Through all eternity.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G 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 s, (D), on the word “The”, 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 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
The words are by Charles (or Carolo or Carolus) Coffin, first published in 1736. The English translation is by John Chandler (1837). The tune, ST. THOMAS, is by Aaron Williams (1770). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1736): Charles (or Carolo or Carolus) Coffin (1676–1749)
- Translated (1837): John Chandler (1806–1876)
- Music (1770): Aaron Williams (1731–1776)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ST. THOMAS by Aaron Williams (1731–1776); words by Charles (or Carolo or Carolus) Coffin (1676–1749); translated by John Chandler (1806–1876). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Questions about The Advent of Our God
What is the doh of The Advent of Our God?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. 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 The Advent of Our God start on?
It starts on s, (D in G major), a pickup on the word “The” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is The Advent of Our God in the public domain?
Yes. Charles (or Carolo or Carolus) Coffin died in 1749, John Chandler died in 1876, Aaron Williams died in 1776; the words were first published in 1837 and the music in 1770. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.