'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow in Tonic Solfa
'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 3 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D minor
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- l, to l (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- ST. CROSS
- Words
- William Bingham Tappan
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ST. CROSS by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by William Bingham Tappan (1794–1849). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| d'Tis---dmid--rnight,- | mand-----lon- |
| sOl----five's--- | mbrow------- |
| mThe---mstar-fis- | sdimmed---dthat--- |
| mlate----rly--- | dshone;-----m'Tis- |
| dmid------mnight,- | rin---mthe--- |
| dgar----rden--- | t,now------- |
| l,The---l,suff--l,'ring- | mSa------rvior- |
| dprays---da---- | l,lone.------- |
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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
'Tis midnight, and on Olive's brow
The star is dimmed that lately shone;
'Tis midnight, in the garden now
The suff'ring Savior prays alone.
'Tis midnight, and from all removed
Immanuel wrestles, lone, with fears;
E'en the disciple whom He loved
Heeds not his Master's grief and tears.
'Tis midnight, from the heav'nly plains
Are borne the songs that angels know;
Unheard by mortals are the strains
That sweetly soothe the Savior's woe.
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).
- 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 William Bingham Tappan, first published in 1822. The tune, ST. CROSS, is by John Bacchus Dykes (1861). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1822): William Bingham Tappan (1794–1849)
- Music (1861): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ST. CROSS by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by William Bingham Tappan (1794–1849). 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.
Sung to the same tune: 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night.
Questions about 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow
What is the doh of 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow?
In this version, in D minor, 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 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow start on?
It starts on d (F in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow in the public domain?
Yes. William Bingham Tappan died in 1849, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were first published in 1822 and the music in 1861. 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.