We Know Thee Who Thou Art in Tonic Solfa
We Know Thee Who Thou Art in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (A)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- SELLINGE
- Words
- William Bright
- Music
- John Pyke Hullah
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SELLINGE by John Pyke Hullah (1812–1884); words by William Bright (1824–1901). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| sWe- | lknow-sThee-twho-d'Thou- | fart,-----mLord- |
| rJe--lsus,-sMa--lry's- | rSon;-----mWe- |
| mknow-rthe-dyearn--d'ings- | tof-lThy-sheart-dTo- |
| fend-mThy-rwork-rbe-- | dgun.----- |
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 D · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
We know Thee who Thou art,
Lord Jesus, Mary's Son;
We know the yearnings of Thy heart
To end Thy work begun.
That sacred fount of grace,
'Mid all the bliss of Heav'n,
Has joy whene'er we seek Thy face,
And kneel to be forgiv'n.
Brought home from ways perverse,
At peace Thine arms within,
We pray Thee, shield us from the curse
Of falling back to sin.
We dare not ask to live
Henceforth from trials free;
But oh! when next they tempt us, give
More strength to cling to Thee.
We know Thee who Thou art,
Our own redeeming Lord;
Be Thou by will, and mind, and heart,
Accepted, loved, adored.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 s (A), on the word “We”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- 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 William Bright, first published in 1865. The tune, SELLINGE, is by John Pyke Hullah (1868). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1865): William Bright (1824–1901)
- Music (1868): John Pyke Hullah (1812–1884)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SELLINGE by John Pyke Hullah (1812–1884); words by William Bright (1824–1901). 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.
Questions about We Know Thee Who Thou Art
What is the doh of We Know Thee Who Thou Art?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 We Know Thee Who Thou Art start on?
It starts on s (A in D major), a pickup on the word “We” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is We Know Thee Who Thou Art in the public domain?
Yes. William Bright died in 1901, John Pyke Hullah died in 1884; the words were first published in 1865 and the music in 1868. 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.