The Comforter Has Come in Tonic Solfa
The Comforter Has Come in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 6 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- s (G)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- THE COMFORTER HAS COME
- Words
- Frank Bottome
- Music
- William James Kirkpatrick
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune THE COMFORTER HAS COME by William James Kirkpatrick (1838–1921); words by Frank Bottome (1823–1894). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| sO- | sspread--lthesti-mdings | s'round,---d'wher-- | d'ev---r'erd'manlis | d'found,---lWher-- |
| sev---lershu-mman | shearts---mand- | mhu---mmanrwoesda- | rbound;---sLet- |
| sev---l'rysChris-mtian | stongue---d'pro-- | d'claim--r'thed'joy-lful | d'sound:---lThe- |
| sCom----d'fort-- | m'er---r'has- | d'come!---d'The- | m'Com---r'fort-d'err'has |
| m'come,---d'The- | d'Com---r'fort-d'erlhas | d'come!---lThe- | sHo---llysGhostmfrom |
| sheav'n,---mThe- | mFa---mther'srpro-dmise | rgiv'n;---sO- | sspread--lthesti-mdings |
| s'round,---d'Wher-- | d'ev---r'erd'manlis | d'found:---lThe- | sCom----d'fort-- |
| m'er---r'has- | d'come!--- |
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 C · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O spread the tidings 'round, wherever man is found,
Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
Let ev'ry Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
The Comforter has come!
Refrain
The Comforter has come, The Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heav'n, The Father's promise giv'n;
O spread the tidings 'round, Wherever man is found:
The Comforter has come!
The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last,
And hush'd the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
As o'er the golden hills the day advances fast!
The Comforter has come!
Lo, the great King of kings, with healing in His wings,
To ev'ry captive soul a full deliv'rance brings;
And thro' the vacant cells the song of triumph rings;
The Comforter has come!
O boundless love divine! how shall this tongue of mine
To wond'ring mortals tell the matchless grace divine;
That I, a child of hell, should in His image shine!
The Comforter has come!
Sing, till the echoes fly above the vaulted sky,
And all the saints above to all below reply,
In strains of endless love the song that ne'er will die:
The Comforter has come!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 (G), on the word “O”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/4 means three 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 s l — only 5 different notes, so it is a good one for a choir new to solfa. 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 Frank Bottome, first published in 1890. The tune, THE COMFORTER HAS COME, is by William James Kirkpatrick (1890). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1890): Frank Bottome (1823–1894)
- Music (1890): William James Kirkpatrick (1838–1921)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune THE COMFORTER HAS COME by William James Kirkpatrick (1838–1921); words by Frank Bottome (1823–1894). 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 Comforter Has Come
What is the doh of The Comforter Has Come?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Comforter Has Come start on?
It starts on s (G in C major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is The Comforter Has Come in the public domain?
Yes. Frank Bottome died in 1894, William James Kirkpatrick died in 1921; the words were first published in 1890 and the music in 1890. 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.