To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise in Tonic Solfa
To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise in Tonic Solfa to GOLDEN SHEAVES: the solfa with the words, staff notation, the four verses, and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| s,To- | mThee,-sO-sLord,-four- | mhearts-rwe-draise-dIn- | rhymns-mof-fa--l,dor-- | t,a----dtion,-s,To- |
| mThee-sbring-ssac--fri-- | mfice-rof-dpraise-mWith- | mshouts-rof-mex--feul-- | lta----stion;-rBright- |
| rrobes--rofsgold-mthe- | rfields-dea--mdorn,-l,The- | fhills-fwith-sjoy-fares_ | lring----ling,-fThes_ |
| lval--lleys-sstand-dso- | fthick-fwith-mcorn-dThat- | re--mven-fthey-l,are- | t,sing----ding.- |
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- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to l (D to E, a ninth)
- Tune
- GOLDEN SHEAVES
Tune GOLDEN SHEAVES by Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842–1900); words by William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898). 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 Lord, our hearts we raise
In hymns of adoration,
To Thee bring sacrifice of praise
With shouts of exultation;
Bright robes of gold the fields adorn,
The hills with joy are ringing,
The valleys stand so thick with corn
That even they are singing.
And now, on this our festal day,
Thy bounteous Hand confessing,
Upon Thine Altar, Lord, we lay
The first-fruits of Thy blessing;
By Thee the souls of men are fed
With gifts of grace supernal,
Thou, Who dost give us earthly bread,
Give us the Bread Eternal.
We bear the burden of the day,
And often toil seems dreary;
But labour ends with sunset ray,
And rest comes for the weary;
May we, the Angel-reaping o’er,
Stand at the last accepted,
Christ’s golden sheaves for evermore
To garners bright elected.
Oh, blessed is that land of God,
Where Saints abide for ever;
Where golden fields spread far and broad,
Where flows the crystal river:
The strains of all its holy throng
With ours to-day are blending;
Thrice blessed is that harvest-song
Which never hath an ending.
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 s, (D), 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 and the chromatic fe de. 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
William Chatterton Dix wrote the words, first published in 1864 in Hymns for the Service of the Church (St. Raphael’s, Bristol). Arthur Sullivan’s tune GOLDEN SHEAVES dates from 1874, and Hymns Ancient and Modern sets the words to it.
- Words (1864): William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898)
- Music (1874): Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842–1900)
Questions about To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise
What is the doh of To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise?
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 Lord, Our Hearts We Raise start on?
It starts on s, (D in G major), a pickup on the word “To” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise in the public domain?
Yes. William Chatterton Dix died in 1898, Arthur Seymour Sullivan died in 1900; the words were first published in 1864 and the music in 1874. 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.