St. Austin: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa

St. Austin, the hymn tune, in Tonic Solfa (doh is F): 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
D minor
Doh
F
Time
4/4
Starts on
m (A)
Range
l, to f (D to B♭, a sixth)
Metre
8.7.8.7.4.7
Music
Gregorian Chant, Bristol Tune Book
Also called
Austin

Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune ST. AUSTIN (Gregorian Chant, Bristol Tune Book). Sources and licences.

The solfa

Doh is F4/4
m--mm-r-f-m-r-d-
r--rr-l,-d-t,-l,---
m--mm-r-f-m-r-d-
r--rr-l,-d-t,-l,---
f--ff-m-r--rr-l,-
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 F · 4/4

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

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in D minor.

About the tune

  • Melody: Gregorian Chant
  • Melody (1876): Bristol Tune Book

Metre: 8.7.8.7.4.7.

Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune ST. AUSTIN (Gregorian Chant, Bristol Tune Book). 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 St. Austin

What is the doh of St. Austin?

In this version, in D minor, doh is F. 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 St. Austin start on?

It starts on m (A in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.

What words can be sung to St. Austin?

St. Austin is in the metre 8.7.8.7.4.7: lines of 8, 7, 8, 7, 4, 7 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.

Is St. Austin in the public domain?

Yes. the tune was first published in 1876. 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.