Thy Servants in the Temple Watched in Tonic Solfa

Thy Servants in the Temple Watched in Tonic Solfa to ALL SAINTS, NEW, doh is Bb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 2 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Bb4/4
sThy-mser---fvantssin-d'the-d'tem---tpletwatched-d'The-
r'daw--m'ning-f'of-m'the-r'day,-----r'Im--
m'pa---r'tientd'with-tits-tear---lliestlbeams-lTheir-
sho--d'ly-tvows--d'tod'pay;-----d'And-
d'cho--d'sen-tsaints-tfar-loff--lbe-lheld-lThat-
sgreat-sand-sglo--srious-smorn,-----fWhen-
mthe--fgladsday-d'spring-d'from--tonthigh-d'Aus--
m'pi--r'cious--d'ly-tshould-d'dawn.-----

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Key
Bb major
Doh
Bb
Time
4/4
Starts on
s (F)
Range
m to f' (D to E♭, a ninth)
Tune
ALL SAINTS, NEW
Words
Anonymous
Music
Henry Stephen Cutler

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Anonymous. 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 Bb · 4/4

| s - Thy| m - - f s - d' - servants in the| d' - - t t - d' - |temple watched The
| r' - m' - f' - m' - dawning of the| r' - - - - - r' - |day, Im-
| m' - - r' d' - t - patient with its| t - - l l - l - |earliest beams Their
| s - d' - t - - d' holy vows to| d' - - - - - d' - |pay; And
| d' - d' - t - t - chosen saints far| l - - l l - l - |off beheld That
| s - s - s - s - great and glorious| s - - - - - f - |morn, When
| m - - f s - d' - the glad day spring| d' - - t t - d' - |from on high Aus-
| m' - r' - d' - t - piciously should| d' - - - - - |dawn.

Staff notation

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

The words

Thy servants in the temple watched
The dawning of the day,
Impatient with its earliest beams
Their holy vows to pay;
And chosen saints far off beheld
That great and glorious morn,
When the glad day-spring from on high
Auspiciously should dawn.

On us the Sun of Righteousness
Its brightest beams hath poured;
With grateful hearts and holy zeal,
Lord, be Thy love adored;
And let us look with joyful hope
To that more glorious day,
Before whose brightness sin and death,
And grief, shall flee away.

How to sing it from the solfa

  • Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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 (F), on the word “Thy”, 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

These words were printed without an author's name in the supplement of the 1866 edition of A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1866), as hymn 589, “The Day-Spring From on High”, where the book credits them to the Sp. of Psalms.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Common Metre Double (8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ALL SAINTS, NEW; any other Common Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Tune ALL SAINTS, NEW by Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902); words by Anonymous.

Sung to the same tune: All Nature's Works His Praise Declare, Amid Surrounding Gloom and Waste, Father, When O'er Our Trembling Hearts, God of All Grace and Majesty, I Looked upon the Righteous Man, Jesus, My Master and My Lord, Lord, Soothe My Anxious, Troubled Soul, Now Gird Your Patient Loins Again, O Where Are Kings and Empires Now, O, Not Alone with Outward Sign, O, Who Shall See the Glorious Day, Oh! Not Alone with Outward Sign, Our Pathway Oft Is Wet with Tears, The Aged Sufferer Waited Long, When, on Devotion's Seraph Wing.

Questions about Thy Servants in the Temple Watched

What is the doh of Thy Servants in the Temple Watched?

In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 Thy Servants in the Temple Watched start on?

It starts on s (F in Bb major), a pickup on the word “Thy” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is Thy Servants in the Temple Watched in the public domain?

Yes. Henry Stephen Cutler died in 1902; the words were in print by 1866 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.

More by Henry Stephen Cutler

Everything by Henry Stephen Cutler (16 hymns and 1 hymn tune)