Vom Himmel Hoch: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Vom Himmel Hoch, the hymn tune, in Tonic Solfa (doh is C): the solfa, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.
Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d' (C)
- Range
- d to d' (C to C, an octave)
- Metre
- 8.8.8.8 — Long Metre (L.M.)
- Music
- Martin Luther, Valentin Schumann
- Also called
- Erfurt, Yule
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune VOM HIMMEL HOCH by Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Valentin Schumann (fl. 1539). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| d'- | t-l-t-s- | l-t-d'-d'- |
| d'-s-s-mf | s-f-m-mr |
| l-l-slt- | d'tl-s-d'- |
| t-l-s-ls | fmr-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. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is C · 4/4
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 (1535): Martin Luther (1483–1546)
- Music (Geistliche Lieder, 1539): Valentin Schumann (fl. 1539)
- Harmony (1734): Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Metre: 8.8.8.8 — Long Metre (L.M.). Hymns on this site in the same metre: 'Take Up Thy Cross', the Savior Said, 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow, 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night, All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night, Creator of the Stars of Night (Conditor Alme Siderum, Stylized), Creator of the Stars of Night (Conditor Alme Siderum), From Heaven Above to Earth I Come, From Nazareth.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune VOM HIMMEL HOCH by Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Valentin Schumann (fl. 1539). 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. The arranger named above set CCEH's harmony, which is not shown here.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
Questions about Vom Himmel Hoch
What is the doh of Vom Himmel Hoch?
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 Vom Himmel Hoch 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 Vom Himmel Hoch?
Vom Himmel Hoch is in the metre 8.8.8.8 — Long Metre (L.M.): lines of 8, 8, 8, 8 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it, such as 'Take Up Thy Cross', the Savior Said, 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow, 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Vom Himmel Hoch in the public domain?
Yes. Martin Luther died in 1546, Valentin Schumann's work dates from 1539, Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750; the tune was first published in 1535. 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.