Herz Liebster Jesu: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa

Herz Liebster Jesu, the hymn tune by Johann Cruger, in Tonic Solfa (doh is Bb): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.

Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir

Key
G minor
Doh
Bb
Time
4/4
Starts on
l, (G)
Range
m, to f (D to E♭, a ninth)
Metre
11.11.11.5
Music
Johann Cruger

Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune HERZ LIEBSTER JESU by Johann Cruger (1598–1662). Sources and licences.

The solfa

Doh is Bb4/4
l,---l,-l,-s,---m,---
l,-t,-d-d-r---t,---
t,---d-r-m---d---
f-f-m-m-r---d---
d---t,-l,-s,---m,---
s,-s,-l,-s,-f,---m,---
m---r-d-t,---l,---

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. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.

Doh is Bb · 4/4

| l, - - - l, - l, - | s, - - - m, - - - |
| l, - t, - d - d - | r - - - t, - - - |
| t, - - - d - r - | m - - - d - - - |
| f - f - m - m - | r - - - d - - - |
| d - - - t, - l, - | s, - - - m, - - - |
| s, - s, - l, - s, - | f, - - - m, - - - |
| m - - - r - d - | t, - - - l, - - - |

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in G minor.

About the tune

Metre: 11.11.11.5. Hymns on this site in the same metre: Lord of Our Life.

Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune HERZ LIEBSTER JESU by Johann Cruger (1598–1662). 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 Herz Liebster Jesu

What is the doh of Herz Liebster Jesu?

In this version, in G minor, doh is Bb. 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 Herz Liebster Jesu start on?

It starts on l, (G in G minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.

What words can be sung to Herz Liebster Jesu?

Herz Liebster Jesu is in the metre 11.11.11.5: lines of 11, 11, 11, 5 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it, such as Lord of Our Life; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.

Is Herz Liebster Jesu in the public domain?

Yes. Johann Cruger died in 1662; the tune was first published in 1640. 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.

More by Johann Cruger

Everything by Johann Cruger (3 hymn tunes)