The Grave Itself a Garden Is in Tonic Solfa
The Grave Itself a Garden Is in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to s (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- BELMONT
- Words
- Christopher Wordsworth
- Music
- William Gardiner
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune BELMONT by William Gardiner (1770–1853); words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,The- | mgrave---rit-- | dself---t,a- | t,gar--l,_-dden- | s,is,---sWhere- |
| slove--f_-mliest- | mflow'rs-r_-da-- | dbound;----- | t,_---s,Since- |
| mChrist,---rour- | dne----t,ver- | t,fa--l,_-dding- | s,Life,---sSprang- |
| sfrom-f_-rthat- | dho--m_-rly- | dground.--- |
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 · 3/4
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 grave itself a garden is,
Where loveliest flow'rs abound;
Since Christ, our never fading Life,
Sprang from that holy ground.
O give us grace to die to sin,
That we, O Lord, may have
A holy, happy rest in Thee,
A Sabbath in the grave.
Thou, Lord, baptized in Thine own blood,
And buried in the grave,
Didst raise Thyself to endless life,
Omnipotent to save.
Baptized into Thy death we died,
And buried were with Thee,
That we might live with Thee to God,
And ever blest might be.
Lord, through the grave and gate of death
May we, with Thee, arise
To an eternal Easter day
Of glory in the skies!
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. 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 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
The words are by Christopher Wordsworth, first published in 1862. The tune, BELMONT, is by William Gardiner (1812). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1862): Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885)
- Music (1812): William Gardiner (1770–1853)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune BELMONT by William Gardiner (1770–1853); words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885). 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 Grave Itself a Garden Is
What is the doh of The Grave Itself a Garden Is?
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 Grave Itself a Garden Is 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 Grave Itself a Garden Is in the public domain?
Yes. Christopher Wordsworth died in 1885, William Gardiner died in 1853; the words were first published in 1862 and the music in 1812. 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.