The God Who Reigns Alone in Tonic Solfa
The God Who Reigns Alone in Tonic Solfa to QUAM DILECTA, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mThe- | fGod-mwho-mreigns-ra-- | dlone-----sO'er- |
| learth,-mand-rsea,-dand- | rsky,-----rLet- |
| mman-swith-sprais--les- | sown,-----rAnd- |
| msound-fhis-mhon---rors | dhigh.----- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- d to l (F to D, a sixth)
- Tune
- QUAM DILECTA
Tune QUAM DILECTA by Henry Lascelles Jenner (1820–1898); words by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649). 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 F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
The God who reigns alone
O'er earth, and sea, and sky,
Let man with praises own,
And sound his honors high.
Him all in heaven above,
Him all on earth below,
The exhaustless Source of love,
The great Creator know.
He formed the living flame,
He gave the reasoning mind;
Then only He may claim
The worship of mankind.
So taught his only Son,
Blessed messenger of grace!
The Eternal is but one,
No second holds his place.
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), 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. 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 Drummond of Hawthornden wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 137 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “Unity of God”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sixes (6.6.6.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to QUAM DILECTA; any other Sixes tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649)
- Music (1861): Henry Lascelles Jenner (1820–1898)
Tune QUAM DILECTA by Henry Lascelles Jenner (1820–1898); words by William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649).
Sung to the same tune: Because I Was Brought Low, Bring to the Christ Your Fears, Come, Mortals, Come Behold, Even as Thou Said'st, O Christ, Formed in Thine Image Bright, Gone Are the Shades of Night, Hark! Through the Waking Earth, Let All the World Abroad, The Saffron Tints Appear.
Questions about The God Who Reigns Alone
What is the doh of The God Who Reigns Alone?
In this version, in F major, 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 The God Who Reigns Alone start on?
It starts on m (A in F major), a pickup on the word “The” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is The God Who Reigns Alone in the public domain?
Yes. William Drummond of Hawthornden died in 1649, Henry Lascelles Jenner died in 1898; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1861. 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.