Colchester (Purcell): hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Colchester (Purcell), the hymn tune by Henry Purcell, in Tonic Solfa (doh is C): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- d' (C)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Metre
- 8.6.8.6 — Common Metre (C.M.)
- Music
- Henry Purcell
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune COLCHESTER (PURCELL) by Henry Purcell (1659–1695). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| d'- | d'--tl- | s---f- | m--rd- | s---s- |
| l--td'- | r'---t- | d'---s- | f-m-r- |
| d---s- | d'--tl- | s---s- | d'--r'm'- |
| r'-d'-t- | d'--- |
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, easy to copy into your own notes or a WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is C · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
About the tune
- Music (1685): Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
Metre: 8.6.8.6 — Common Metre (C.M.). Hymns on this site in the same metre: Almighty God Your Word Is Cast, Almighty Lord, Before Thy Throne, Hark the Glad Sound, Lamp of Our Feet, Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds, Lord as to Thy Dear Cross, Lord While for All Mankind We Pray, Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune COLCHESTER (PURCELL) by Henry Purcell (1659–1695). The CCEH gives its tunes as four-part scores; this page has the melody only, read from its MIDI file and checked against its incipit, and NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from the notes. It has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
Questions about Colchester (Purcell)
What is the doh of Colchester (Purcell)?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Colchester (Purcell) start on?
It starts on d' (C in C major), a pickup before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d'.
What words can be sung to Colchester (Purcell)?
Colchester (Purcell) is in the metre 8.6.8.6 — Common Metre (C.M.): lines of 8, 6, 8, 6 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it, such as Almighty God Your Word Is Cast, Almighty Lord, Before Thy Throne, Hark the Glad Sound; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Colchester (Purcell) in the public domain?
Yes. Henry Purcell died in 1695; the tune was first published in 1685. Everyone named died before 1955 and it was published before 1929, so the tune is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements of it can still be under copyright.