The Voice That Breathed o’er Eden in Tonic Solfa
The Voice That Breathed o’er Eden in Tonic Solfa to BLAIRGOWRIE: the solfa with the words, staff notation, the four verses, and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mThe- | rvoice-mthat-fbreathed-lo’er- | sE----mden,-mThat- |
| sear---mliestdwed--rding- | mday,-----mThe- |
| rpri--mmal-fmar--lriage- | sbless----ming,-sIt- |
| d'hath--tnotlpassed-ta-- | sway.-----sStill- |
| sin--rtherpure-mes-- | rpous----dal-d'Of- |
| d'Chris---stiansman-mand- | smaid,---fThe-mho-- |
| mly-rThree-mare-fwith- | sus,-lThe-tthree--d'fold- |
| mgrace--f_ris-s_m_ | dsaid,----- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- BLAIRGOWRIE
- Words
- John Keble
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune BLAIRGOWRIE by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by John Keble (1792–1866). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
The voice that breathed o’er Eden,
That earliest wedding day,
The primal marriage blessing,
It hath not passed away.
Still in the pure espousal
Of Christian man and maid,
The holy Three are with us,
The threefold grace is said,
For dower of blessed children,
For love and faith’s sweet sake,
For high mysterious union
Which naught on earth may break.
Be present, awful Father,
To give away this bride,
As Eve Thou gav’st to Adam
Out of his own pierced side:
Be present, Son of Mary,
To join their loving hands,
As Thou didst bind two natures
In Thine eternal hands!
Be present, holiest Spirit,
To bless them as they kneel,
As Thou, for Christ the Bridegroom,
The heavenly Spouse dost seal!
O spread Thy pure wing o’er them,
Let no ill power find place,
When onward to Thine altar
Their hallowed path they trace.
To cast their crowns before Thee
In perfect sacrifice,
Till to the home of gladness
With Christ’s own Bride they rise.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (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 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
John Keble wrote the words, first published in the Salisbury Hymn Book in 1857. John Bacchus Dykes wrote the tune BLAIRGOWRIE.
- Words (1857): John Keble (1792–1866)
- Music (1872): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune BLAIRGOWRIE by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by John Keble (1792–1866).
Questions about The Voice That Breathed o’er Eden
What is the doh of The Voice That Breathed o’er Eden?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 Voice That Breathed o’er Eden start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “The” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is The Voice That Breathed o’er Eden in the public domain?
Yes. John Keble died in 1866, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were first published in 1857 and the music in 1872. 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.