There Came a Message from the Sky in Tonic Solfa
There Came a Message from the Sky in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- A major
- Doh
- A
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (E)
- Range
- s, to f (E to D, a seventh)
- Tune
- ESBJERG
- Words
- Thomas Hansen Kingo, Paul Christian Paulsen
- Music
- Hartnack Otto Conrad Zinck
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ESBJERG by Hartnack Otto Conrad Zinck (1746–1832); words by Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703); translated by Paul Christian Paulsen (1881–1948). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,There- | dcame-ra-mmes--dsage- | ffrom-mthe-rsky:-s,God- |
| l,has-t,the-dearth-mbe-- | rfrien----dded,-s,His- |
| dSon-rwho-mdwells-din- | fhea--mven-rhigh,-s,By- |
| l,an--t,gel-dhosts-mat-- | rten----dded,-mWill- |
| mnow-myour-mflesh-rand- | dblood-t,put-l,on-rAs- |
| t,Da--l,vid's-s,Son;-s,Your- | dwret--dched-fstate-mis- |
| ren----dded.- |
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 A · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in A major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
There came a message from the sky:
God has the earth befriended,
His Son who dwells in heaven high,
By angel hosts attended,
Will now your flesh and blood put on
As David's Son;
Your wretched state is ended.
It first to Nazareth did come
By Gabriel expounded;
To Mary, in her humble home,
So wonderful it sounded:
O Mary, hail, thou shalt not fear,
The Lord is near,
To thee hath grace abounded!
Thou shalt a Son conceive and bear,
Who is the Prince of heaven,
Who shall to David's throne be heir
And Jacob's house be given;
He shall extend to ev'ry race
His reign of grace,
His kingdom, like a leaven.
The Holy Spirit shall to thee
His boundless power render,
Abundant shall the mercy be
From Him, thy strong Defender;
This child is therefore from above,
Whom thou shalt love
As mother kind and tender.
Come, Christmas Child, and be my guest,
Give me Thy Holy Spirit,
Prepare my heart and make it blest
Forever through Thy merit,
That I at last may dwell with Thee,
Thy kingdom see,
And all its gifts inherit.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum A 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, (E), on the word “There”, 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
The words are by Thomas Hansen Kingo, first published in 1689. The English translation is by Paul Christian Paulsen (1927). The tune, ESBJERG, is by Hartnack Otto Conrad Zinck (1801). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1689): Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703)
- Translated (1927): Paul Christian Paulsen (1881–1948)
- Music (1801): Hartnack Otto Conrad Zinck (1746–1832)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ESBJERG by Hartnack Otto Conrad Zinck (1746–1832); words by Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703); translated by Paul Christian Paulsen (1881–1948). 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 There Came a Message from the Sky
What is the doh of There Came a Message from the Sky?
In this version, in A major, doh is A. 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 There Came a Message from the Sky start on?
It starts on s, (E in A major), a pickup on the word “There” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is There Came a Message from the Sky in the public domain?
Yes. Thomas Hansen Kingo died in 1703, Paul Christian Paulsen died in 1948, Hartnack Otto Conrad Zinck died in 1832; the words were first published in 1927 and the music in 1801. 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.