To Thee, O Christ, Our Prayers Shall Rise in Tonic Solfa
To Thee, O Christ, Our Prayers Shall Rise in Tonic Solfa to DOMINUS REGIT ME, doh is G: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mTo- | sThee,-fO-mChrist,-mour- | rprayers-rshall-drise,-s,With- |
| s,tears--l,oft,sor--drow- | mblend----ring;-sCome- |
| ffor-mourr_mhelp-mThou- | rHo--dlyt,_dOne,-l,On- |
| s,our--l,darkt,night-dde-- | mscend--r_-ding.- |
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- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (B)
- Range
- s, to s (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- DOMINUS REGIT ME
- Words
- Traditional Latin, John Brownlie
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune DOMINUS REGIT ME by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Traditional Latin; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925). 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 G · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
To Thee, O Christ, our prayers shall rise,
With tears of sorrow blending;
Come for our help Thou Holy One,
On our dark night descending.
Our hearts shall find their rest in Thee,
And e’en in dreams shall praise Thee;
And with each rising of the sun,
Anew their songs shall raise Thee.
Impart a noble life, and may
Our spirit’s warmth be heightened.
Bid night depart, and with Thy love,
O may our lives be brightened.
In hymns we pay our vows to Thee:
At vesper-hour we pray,
Erase the writing we have made,
Thine own let stand for aye.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G 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 m (B), on the word “To”, 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
John Brownlie translated these words from the Latin hymns of the early Church for Hymns of the Early Church (London, 1896), where he gives them as “By Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia”, headed “_Advent_”.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Eights and Sevens (8.7.8.7), and this page sets them to DOMINUS REGIT ME; any other Eights and Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Traditional Latin
- Translated (1896): John Brownlie (1857–1925)
- Music (1868): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune DOMINUS REGIT ME by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Traditional Latin; translated by John Brownlie (1857–1925).
Sung to the same tune: Alas, My God! My Sins Are Great, Lord, in Thy Kingdom There Shall Be, The King of Love My Shepherd Is, To Thy Blest Cross, O Christ, We Come.
Questions about To Thee, O Christ, Our Prayers Shall Rise
What is the doh of To Thee, O Christ, Our Prayers Shall Rise?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. 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 Thee, O Christ, Our Prayers Shall Rise start on?
It starts on m (B in G major), a pickup on the word “To” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is To Thee, O Christ, Our Prayers Shall Rise in the public domain?
Yes. John Brownlie died in 1925, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were in print by 1896 and the music in 1868. 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.