'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night in Tonic Solfa
'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 7 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D minor
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- l, to l (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- ST. CROSS
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ST. CROSS by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| d'Twas---don-rthat- | mdark,-----lthat- |
| sdole----fful--- | mnight------- |
| mWhen---mpow'rs-fof- | searth---dand--- |
| mhell---ra---- | drose-----mA-- |
| dgainst-----mthe- | rSon---mof--- |
| dGod's---rde---- | t,light,------- |
| l,And---l,friends-l,be-- | mtrayed-----rHim- |
| dto---dHis--- | l,foes:------- |
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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
'Twas on that dark, that doleful night
When pow'rs of earth and hell arose
Against the Son of God's delight,
And friends betrayed Him to His foes:
Before the mournful scene began,
He took the bread, and blessed, and brake:
What love through all His actions ran!
What wondrous words of grace He spake!
"This is My body, broke for sin;
Receive and eat the living food:"
Then took the cup, and blessed the wine;
"'Tis the new cov'nant in My blood."
For us His flesh with nails was torn,
He bore the scourge, He felt the thorn;
And justice poured upon His head
Its heavy vengeance in our stead.
For us His vital blood was spilt,
To buy the pardon of our guilt,
When, for black crimes of biggest size,
He gave His soul a sacrifice.
"Do this," He cried, "till time shall end,
In memory of your dying friend;
Meet at My table, and record
The love of your departed Lord."
Jesus, Thy feast we celebrate,
We show Thy death, we sing Thy name,
Till Thou return, and we shall eat
The marriage supper of the Lamb.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 d (F).
- 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 Isaac Watts, first published in 1709. The tune, ST. CROSS, is by John Bacchus Dykes (1861). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1709): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
- Music (1861): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ST. CROSS by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). 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.
Sung to the same tune: 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow.
Questions about 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night
What is the doh of 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night?
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 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night start on?
It starts on d (F in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748, John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were first published in 1709 and the music in 1861. 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.