To the Father's Love We Trust in Tonic Solfa

To the Father's Love We Trust in Tonic Solfa to SPANISH HYMN, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Ab4/4
dTo--dthet,Fa--dther's-l,love-dwe-s,trust---
mThat-dwhich-fwas-ren--dshrined-t,in-ddust;---
mWhile--mwergive-mthe-fearth-mto-rearth,---
mFinds--mthersoul-mits-fheav--menly-rbirth.---
dAn---dgelst,wait-dthe-l,an--dgel-s,child,---
mGen--dtle,-fyoung,-rand-dun--t,de--dfiled.---

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Key
Ab major
Doh
Ab
Time
4/4
Starts on
d (A♭)
Range
s, to f (E♭ to D♭, a seventh)
Tune
SPANISH HYMN
Words
Anonymous
Music
Spanish Traditional, Benjamin Carr, David Evans

Tune SPANISH HYMN by Benjamin Carr (died undefined) and David Evans (1874–1948); 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 Ab · 4/4

| d - - d t, - d - To the Father's| l, - d - s, - - - |love we trust
| m - d - f - r - That which was en-| d - t, - d - - - |shrined in dust;
| m - - m r - m - While we give the| f - m - r - - - |earth to earth,
| m - - m r - m - Finds the soul its| f - m - r - - - |heavenly birth.
| d - - d t, - d - Angels wait the| l, - d - s, - - - |angel child,
| m - d - f - r - Gentle, young, and| d - t, - d - - - |undefiled.

Staff notation

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

The words

To the Father's love we trust
That which was enshrined in dust;
While we give the earth to earth,
Finds the soul its heavenly birth.
Angels wait the angel child,
Gentle, young, and undefiled.

Said not oft those pleading eyes
That they longed for purer skies?
Did not oft the falling tear
Speak of roughening billows here?
Prayed we not that she might rest
On her Heavenly Father's breast?

Give the spirit, then, to God,
And its vesture to the sod;
Life, henceforth, shall have a ray
Kindled ne'er to pass away,
And a light from angel eyes
Draw us upward to the skies.

How to sing it from the solfa

  • Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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 (A♭).
  • 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 A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 412, “Funeral Hymn of a Child”.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens, six lines (7.7.7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to SPANISH HYMN; any other Sevens, six lines tune fits them as well.

  • Words: Anonymous
  • Melody: Spanish Traditional
  • Arranged (1822): Benjamin Carr (died undefined)
  • Harmony (1927): David Evans (1874–1948)

Tune SPANISH HYMN by Benjamin Carr (died undefined) and David Evans (1874–1948); words by Anonymous.

Sung to the same tune: God of Mercy, God of Grace, In the Morning Sow Thy Seed, Lay Her Gently in the Dust, Lead Us with Thy Gentle Sway, O Disclose Thy Lovely Face, Saviour, Cast a Pitying Eye, Saviour, Prince of Israel's Race, What Our Father Does Is Well, When Arise the Thoughts of Sin, When the Sun, with Cheerful Beams.

Questions about To the Father's Love We Trust

What is the doh of To the Father's Love We Trust?

In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 To the Father's Love We Trust start on?

It starts on d (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.

Is To the Father's Love We Trust in the public domain?

Yes. Benjamin Carr died in undefined, David Evans died in 1948; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1822. 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 Benjamin Carr

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Everything by David Evans (11 hymns and 1 hymn tune)