The People That in Darkness Sat in Tonic Solfa
The People That in Darkness Sat in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 7 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- d to l (F to D, a sixth)
- Tune
- LOBT GOTT, IHR CHRISTEN ALLZUGLEICH
- Words
- John Morison
- Music
- Nikolaus Hermann
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune LOBT GOTT, IHR CHRISTEN ALLZUGLEICH by Nikolaus Hermann (1500–1561); words by John Morison (1746–1798). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dThe- | speo--sple-sthat-sin- | ldark--snessf_msat-mA- |
| fglo--srious-llight-lhave- | sseen;-----sThe- |
| slight-shas-sshined-mon- | sthem-fwhom_rlong-sIn- |
| mshades-dof-rdeath-rhave- | dbeen.---mIn--- |
| sshades-dof-rdeath-rhave- | dbeen.----- |
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 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 people that in darkness sat
A glorious light have seen;
The light has shined on them who long
In shades of death have been.
In shades of death have been.
To hail Thee, Sun of Righteousness,
The gath'ring nations come;
They joy as when the reapers bear
Their harvest treasures home.
Their harvest treasures home.
For Thou their burden dost remove
And break the tyrant's rod
As in the day when Midian fell
Before the sword of God.
Before the sword of God.
To us a Child of hope is born,
To us a Son is giv'n,
And on His shoulder ever rests
All pow'r in earth and heav'n.
All pow'r in earth and heav'n.
His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
The Everlasting Lord,
The Wonderful, the Counselor.
The God by all adored.
The God by all adored.
His righteous government and power
Shall over all extend;
On judgment and on justice based,
His reign shall have no end.
D Lord Jesus, reign in us, we pray,
And make us Thine alone,
Who with the Father ever art
And Holy Spirit, one.
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 d (F), 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
The words are by John Morison, first published in 1781. The tune, LOBT GOTT, IHR CHRISTEN ALLZUGLEICH, is by Nikolaus Hermann (1554). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1781): John Morison (1746–1798)
- Music (1554): Nikolaus Hermann (1500–1561)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune LOBT GOTT, IHR CHRISTEN ALLZUGLEICH by Nikolaus Hermann (1500–1561); words by John Morison (1746–1798). 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 People That in Darkness Sat
What is the doh of The People That in Darkness Sat?
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 People That in Darkness Sat start on?
It starts on d (F in F major), a pickup on the word “The” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is The People That in Darkness Sat in the public domain?
Yes. John Morison died in 1798, Nikolaus Hermann died in 1561; the words were first published in 1781 and the music in 1554. 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.