The Winds Are Hushed; the Peaceful Moon in Tonic Solfa

The Winds Are Hushed; the Peaceful Moon in Tonic Solfa to YORK, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is F4/4
dThe-mwinds-sare-fhushed;-lthe-mpeace--sful-rmoon-rLooks-
mdown-son-sZi--feon's-shill;-----dThe-
mcit--sy-fsleeps;-l'tis-mnight's-scalm-rmoon,-sAnd-
fall-mthe-rstreets-rare-dstill.-----

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Key
F major
Doh
F
Time
4/4
Starts on
d (F)
Range
d to l (F to D, a sixth)
Tune
YORK
Words
John Pierpont
Music
Scottish Psalter

Tune YORK (Scottish Psalter); words by John Pierpont (1785–1866). 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 F · 4/4

| d - The| m - s - f - l - winds are hushed; the| m - s - r - r - |peaceful moon Looks
| m - s - s - fe - down on Zion's| s - - - - - d - |hill; The
| m - s - f - l - city sleeps; 'tis| m - s - r - s - |night's calm moon, And
| f - m - r - r - all the streets are| d - - - - - |still.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.

The words

The winds are hushed; the peaceful moon
Looks down on Zion's hill;
The city sleeps; 'tis night's calm moon,
And all the streets are still.

How soft, how holy, is the light!
And hark! a sweet, low song,
As gently as these dews of night,
Floats on the air along.

Affection's wish, devotion's prayer,
Are in that holy strain;
And hope and love and trust are there,
And triumph, won through pain.

'Tis Jesus and his faithful few
That soul-deep hymn who pour; —
O Christ! may we the song renew,
And learn to love thee more.

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 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 Pierpont wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 474, “The Hymn of the Last Supper”. The compilers changed some of the words, and this is their version.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre (8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to YORK; any other Common Metre tune fits them as well.

  • Words: John Pierpont (1785–1866)
  • Melody (1615): Scottish Psalter

Tune YORK (Scottish Psalter); words by John Pierpont (1785–1866).

Sung to the same tune: Affliction Is a Stormy Deep, Again the Lord of Life and Light, All Men Are Equal in Their Birth, Almighty God, Thy Word Is Cast, Almighty God! Thy Wondrous Works, Am I an Israelite Indeed, And Is This Life Prolong'd to Me, And Now, My Soul, Another Year, Another Hand Is Beckoning Us, Attend While God's Exalted Son, Author of Good, to Thee We Turn, Backward with Humble Shame We Look, Be Thou, O God, by Night, by Day, Before Thy Cross We Take Our Place, Behold the Sure Foundation-stone, Behold, on Zion's Heavenly Shore, Bitter, Indeed, the Waters Are, Bleak Winter Is Subdued at Length, Bless'd Morning, Whose Young Dawning Rays, Come Happy Souls, Approach Your God, Come, Children, Learn to Fear the Lord, Father in Heaven, to Thee My Heart, Father of Mercies, in Thy Word, For Ever Here My Rest Shall Be, Forth Went the Heralds of the Cross, Fountain of Mercy, God of Love, From Pole to Pole Let Others Roam, God Moves in a Mysterious Way, God of My Life, Look Gently Down, Good Is the Lord, the Heavenly King, Great God, with Wonder and with Praise, Great God! to Me the Sight Afford, Great Is the Lord; His Works of Might, Hail! Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Happy Are They, to Whom the Lord, Help, Lord, for Men of Virtue Fail, Here at Bethesda's Pool, the Poor, How Are Thy Servants Blest, O Lord, How Shall the Young Secure Their Hearts, How Sweet, How Calm, This Sabbath Morn, I Set the Lord Before My Face, I Want a Principle Within, I Was a Groveling Creature Once, In All My Vast Concerns with Thee, In Trouble and in Grief, O God, In Vain My Fancy Strives to Paint, Incarnate God! the Soul That Knows, Indulgent God, Whose Bounteous Care, It Is a Faith Sublime and Sure, Jehovah God! Thy Gracious Power, Jesus His Empire Shall Extend, Let Others Boast How Strong They Be, Life Is a Span, — a Fleeting Hour, Lord, It Belongs Not to My Care, Lord, We Confess Our Numerous Faults, Manna to Israel Well Supplied, Millions of Souls, in Glory Now, My God, the Steps of Pious Men, My God! How Perfect Are Thy Ways, My Never-ceasing Songs Shall Show, Now Let Our Prayers Ascend to Thee, O 'Tis a Lovely Thing to See, O God of Mercy! Hear My Call, O God, I Love Thee, Not Alone, O God, My Refuge, Hear My Cries, O Lord, My Best Desire Fulfill, O, Speed Thee, Christian, on Thy Way, Our Father! Through the Coming Year, Sin Has a Thousand Treacherous Arts, So Did the Hebrew Prophet Raise, Surpassing Great the Gift of God, Teach Me the Measure of My Days, Terrible Thought! Shall I Alone, The Book of Nature Open Lies, The Castle of the Human Heart, The Hoary Frost, the Fleecy Snow, The King, O Lord, with Songs of Praise, The Lord Ascended into Heaven, The Men Who Slight Thy Faithful Word, The Radiance of the Brightness, The Subtle Spider Often Weaves, Thee, Jesus, Full of Truth and Grace, Thou Art the Way; to Thee Alone, Through Thee as We Together Came, Thus Saith the Lord Who Built the Heavens, Thus Saith the Lord, "the Spacious Fields, Thus Saith the Mercy of the Lord, Thy Kingdom, Lord, Forever Stands, We Love the Venerable House, What Shall I Render to My God, When All Thy Mercies, O My God, When God Reveal'd His Gracious Name, When Israel Sins, the Lord Reproves, When the Poor Pris'ner Through a Grate, While Men Grow Bold in Wicked Ways, Why Should This Earth Delight Us So, With My Whole Heart I've Sought Thy Face, Ye Sons of Men, a Feeble Race, Ye Sons of Pride, That Hate the Just, Zeal Is That Pure and Heavenly Flame, Zion Rejoice, and Judah Sing.

Questions about The Winds Are Hushed; the Peaceful Moon

What is the doh of The Winds Are Hushed; the Peaceful Moon?

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 Winds Are Hushed; the Peaceful Moon 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 Winds Are Hushed; the Peaceful Moon in the public domain?

Yes. John Pierpont died in 1866; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1615. 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.

More by John Pierpont

Everything by John Pierpont (8 hymns)