To Thee, Our God, We Fly in Tonic Solfa
To Thee, Our God, We Fly in Tonic Solfa to DARWALL, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dTo- | mThee,-dour-sGod,-mwe- | d'fly-----tFor- |
| lmer--scy-fand-mfor- | rgrace;-----rOh,- |
| mhear-dour-llow--sly- | fecry-rAnd-r'hide-d'not- |
| tThou---lThy--- | sface!-----sO- |
| lLord,---tstretch--- | d'forth-----dThy- |
| rmight--my-fhand-sAnd- | lguard-tand-d'bless-r'our- |
| d'Fa----tther---- | d'land.----- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (D)
- Range
- d to r' (D to E, a ninth)
- Tune
- DARWALL
- Words
- William Walsham How
- Music
- John Darwall
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune DARWALL by John Darwall (1731–1789); words by William Walsham How (1823–1897). 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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
To Thee, our God, we fly
For mercy and for grace;
Oh, hear our lowly cry
And hide not Thou Thy face!
O Lord, stretch forth Thy mighty hand
And guard and bless our Fatherland.
Arise, O Lord of hosts,
Be jealous for Thy name,
And drive from out our coasts
The sins that put to shame.
O Lord, stretch forth Thy mighty hand
And guard and bless our Fatherland.
Thy best gifts from on high
In rich abundance pour
That we may magnify
And praise Thee more and more.
O Lord, stretch forth Thy mighty hand
And guard and bless our Fatherland.
The powers ordained by Thee
With heavenly wisdom bless;
May they Thy servants be
And rule in righteousness.
O Lord, stretch forth Thy mighty hand
And guard and bless our Fatherland.
The Church of Thy dear Son
Inflame with love’s pure fire;
Bind her once more in one
And life and truth inspire.
O Lord, stretch forth Thy mighty hand
And guard and bless our Fatherland.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (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. 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 Walsham How wrote these words. They were printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 304.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Hallelujah Metre (6.6.6.6.8.8), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to DARWALL; any other Hallelujah Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: William Walsham How (1823–1897)
- Music (1770): John Darwall (1731–1789)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune DARWALL by John Darwall (1731–1789); words by William Walsham How (1823–1897). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune 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: A Worldling Spent Each Day, All, from the Sun's Uprise, Amazing, Beauteous Change, Before Elisha's Gate, Encouraged by Thy Word, Hark! What Celestial Notes, I Have No Tears to Shed, Israel in Ancient Days, Lord of the Worlds Above, On What Has Now Been Sown, Rejoice, the Lord Is King, Thou Fount of Love and Grace, Ye Realms Below the Skies, Young Men and Maidens, Raise.
Questions about To Thee, Our God, We Fly
What is the doh of To Thee, Our God, We Fly?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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, Our God, We Fly start on?
It starts on d (D in D major), a pickup on the word “To” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is To Thee, Our God, We Fly in the public domain?
Yes. William Walsham How died in 1897, John Darwall died in 1789; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1770. 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.