The Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine in Tonic Solfa
The Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine in Tonic Solfa to SONG TWENTY-TWO, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sThe---smorn--ming- | lbreaks,---sI--- |
| splace-fmy-mhand-sin- | rThine,------- |
| rMy---mGod,-d'tis- | fThine---rto--- |
| slead,-dto-mfol--rlow- | dmine;------- |
| mNo---fword-sde-- | lceit----lful--- |
| rshall-sI-sspeak-fethe- | swhile,------- |
| t,Nor---dshall-rI- | mstain---fmy--- |
| shand-lwith-rac--rtion- | dvile.------- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (C)
- Range
- t, to l (E to D, a seventh)
- Tune
- SONG TWENTY-TWO
- Words
- Traditional Greek, John Brownlie
- Music
- Orlando Gibbons
Tune SONG TWENTY-TWO by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925). 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 morning breaks, I place my hand in Thine,
My God, 'tis Thine to lead, to follow mine;
No word deceitful shall I speak the while,
Nor shall I stain my hand with action vile.
Thine be the day with worthy labour filled,
Strong would I stand to do the duty willed;
Nor swayed by restless passion let me be,
That I may give the offering pure to Thee;
Else were I 'shamed when hoary age I see,
Shamed were this board that bears Thy gifts to me:
Mine is the impulse; O my Christ, I pray,
Be Thou Thyself to me the Blessed Way!
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 s (C).
- 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
John Brownlie translated these words from the Greek service books for Hymns of the Greek Church (Edinburgh and London, 1900), headed “A Morning Hymn”.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Tens (10.10.10.10), and this page sets them to SONG TWENTY-TWO; any other Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Greek
- Translated (1900): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Music (1623): Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625)
Tune SONG TWENTY-TWO by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625); words by Traditional Greek; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Breathe Thoughts of Pity O'er a Brother's Fall, Cheer Up, My Soul, There Is a Mercy-seat, Father! There Is No Change to Live with Thee, Glory to God! the Morn Appointed Breaks, God of the Changing Year, Whose Arm of Power, Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He.
Questions about The Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine
What is the doh of The Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine?
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 Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine start on?
It starts on s (C in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is The Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, Orlando Gibbons died in 1625; the words were in print by 1900 and the music in 1623. 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.