Thou God of Glorious Majesty in Tonic Solfa
Thou God of Glorious Majesty in Tonic Solfa to MERIBAH, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 6 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dThou--- | mGod--mofmglo--rrious-mmaj--fes-- | sty,-------mTo--- |
| lthee,--la-lgainst-smy--fself,-mto- | rthee,-------sA--- |
| tworm-lof-searth,---feI--- | scry;-------sA--- |
| d'Half-sa--swak--mened-fchild-lof- | sman;-------sAn--- |
| d'heir-sof-send--mless-fbliss-lor- | spain;-------dA--- |
| rsin--fner-mborn---rto--- | ddie!------- |
Got your choir's recording? Get it in solfa →
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- MERIBAH
- Words
- Charles Wesley
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune MERIBAH by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788). 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 Eb · 3/2
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Thou God of glorious majesty,
To thee, against myself, to thee,
A worm of earth, I cry;
A Half-awakened child of man;
An heir of endless bliss or pain;
A sinner born to die!
Lo! on a narrow neck of land,
'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand,
Secure, insensible;
A point of time, a moment's space,
Removes me to that heavenly place,
Or shuts me up in hell.
O God, mine inmost soul convert!
And deeply on my thoughtful heart
Eternal things impress:
Give me to feel their solemn weight,
And tremble on the brink of fate,
And wake to righteousness.
Before me place, in dread array,
The pomp of that tremendous day,
When thou with clouds shalt come,
To judge the nations at thy bar;
And tell me, Lord, shall I be there
To meet a joyful doom?
Be this my one great business here,
With serious industry and fear
Eternal bliss to ensure;
Thine utmost counsel to fulfil,
And suffer all thy righteous will,
And to the end endure.
Then, Saviour, then my soul receive,
Transported from this vale to live
And reign with thee above;
Where faith is sweetly lost in sight,
And hope in full supreme delight,
And everlasting love.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 (E♭), on the word “Thou”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/2 means three minim 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
Charles Wesley wrote these words. His brother John printed them in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 59.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Common Particular Metre (8.8.6.8.8.6), and this page sets them to MERIBAH; any other Common Particular Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Music (1839): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune MERIBAH by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788).
Sung to the same tune: At Early Dawn, with Pious Thought, Be It My Only Wisdom Here, Blinded in Youth by Satan's Arts, But We from Such Assaults Are Freed, Except the Lord Conduct the Plan, How Happy, Gracious Lord! Are We, If Solid Happiness We Prize, Light of My Life, O Lord, Thou Art, Lord, Thou Hast Won, at Length I Yield, May We Thy Precepts, Lord, Fulfil, O God of Life, in Whom We Live, O Lord! How Happy Should We Be, O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art, O, Could We Speak the Matchless Worth, The Joyful Morn, My God, Is Come, When, Lord, to This Our Western Land.
Questions about Thou God of Glorious Majesty
What is the doh of Thou God of Glorious Majesty?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Thou God of Glorious Majesty start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the word “Thou” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Thou God of Glorious Majesty in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1839. 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.