Today Thy Mercy Calls Me in Tonic Solfa
Today Thy Mercy Calls Me in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 4 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- A major
- Doh
- A
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (E)
- Range
- s, to f (E to D, a seventh)
- Tune
- ANTHES
- Words
- Oswald Allen
- Music
- Friedrich Konrad Anthes
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ANTHES by Friedrich Konrad Anthes (1812–1874); words by Oswald Allen (1816–1878). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,To-- | dday-t,Thy-dmer--rcy- | mcalls---dme-dto- |
| l,wash-fa--mway-rmy- | dsin;-----s,How-- |
| dev--t,er-dgreat-rmy- | mtres----dpass,-dwha-- |
| l,te'er-fI-mmay-rhave- | dbeen;-----mHow-- |
| rev--t,er-dlong-l,from- | t,mer----s,cy-s,I- |
| l,may-t,have-dturned-ra-- | mway,-----s,Thy- |
| dblood,-t,O-l,Christ,-s,can- | rwash---rme,-mand- |
| fmake-rme-dclean-t,to-- | dday.----- |
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 A · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in A major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Today Thy mercy calls me
to wash away my sin;
However great my trespass,
whate'er I may have been;
However long from mercy
I may have turned away,
Thy blood, O Christ, can wash me,
and make me clean today.
Today Thy gate is open,
and all who enter in
Shall find a Father's welcome,
and pardon for their sin;
The past shall be forgotten,
a present joy be given;
A future grace be promised,
a glorious crown in Heav'n.
Today the Father calls me,
the Holy Spirit waits,
The blessèd angels gather
around the heav'nly gates;
No question will be asked me,
how often I have come;
Although I oft have wandered,
it is my Father's home.
O all embracing mercy,
thou ever open door,
What shall I do without thee
when heart and eyes run o'er?
When all things seem against me,
to drive me to despair,
I know one gate is open,
one ear will hear my prayer.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum A 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, (E), on the first syllable of “Today”, 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
The words are by Oswald Allen, first published in 1861. The tune, ANTHES, is by Friedrich Konrad Anthes (1847). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1861): Oswald Allen (1816–1878)
- Music (1847): Friedrich Konrad Anthes (1812–1874)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ANTHES by Friedrich Konrad Anthes (1812–1874); words by Oswald Allen (1816–1878). 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.
Questions about Today Thy Mercy Calls Me
What is the doh of Today Thy Mercy Calls Me?
In this version, in A major, doh is A. 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 Today Thy Mercy Calls Me start on?
It starts on s, (E in A major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Today” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is Today Thy Mercy Calls Me in the public domain?
Yes. Oswald Allen died in 1878, Friedrich Konrad Anthes died in 1874; the words were first published in 1861 and the music in 1847. 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.