When Before Thy Throne We Kneel in Tonic Solfa
When Before Thy Throne We Kneel in Tonic Solfa to INNOCENTS, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mWhen--fbe- | sfore-d'thy-tthrone-lwe- | skneel,---dFilled--rwith |
| mawe-sand-fho--mly- | rfear,---mTeach--fus, |
| sO-d'our-tGod!-lto- | sfeel---dAll--rthy |
| msa--fcred-mpre--rsence- | dnear.--- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- INNOCENTS
- Words
- John Bowring
- Music
- French Melody, 13th cent., ascr., George Frederick Handel, The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by John Bowring (1792–1872). Sources and licences.
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 message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
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
When before thy throne we kneel,
Filled with awe and holy fear,
Teach us, O our God! to feel
All thy sacred presence near.
Check each proud and wandering thought
When on thy great name we call;
Man is nought — is less than nought:
Thou, our God, art all in all.
Weak, imperfect creatures, we
In this vale of darkness dwell;
Yet presume to look to thee,
'Midst thy light ineffable.
O, receive the praise that dares
Seek thy heaven-exalted throne;
Bless our offerings, hear our pray'rs,
Infinite and Holy One!
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 m (F♯), on the word “When”, 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
John Bowring wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 1 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “Humble Worship”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens (7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to INNOCENTS; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Bowring (1792–1872)
- Melody: French Melody, 13th cent.
- Music (1728): ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined)
- Melody (1850): The Parish Choir, London
Tune INNOCENTS by ascr., George Frederick Handel (died undefined); words by John Bowring (1792–1872).
Sung to the same tune: Day by Day the Manna Fell, Forest Beasts, That Live by Prey, God of Mercy, Hear Our Prayer, Hail, All Hail the Joyful Morn, Hail, Thou Blessed Cross, All Hail, Hark, My Soul! It Is the Lord, In the Dark of Early Morn, In Thy Courts Let Peace Be Found, Lord, My Times Are in Thy Hand, Peace! the Welcome Sound Proclaim, Seems It in My Anguish Lone, Sinners, Turn; Why Will Ye Die, Slowly, by God's Hand Unfurled, Softly Fades the Twilight Ray, Songs of Praise the Angels Sang, They, Who on the Lord Rely, To Thy Temple I Repair, Winter Has a Joy for Me.
Questions about When Before Thy Throne We Kneel
What is the doh of When Before Thy Throne We Kneel?
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 When Before Thy Throne We Kneel start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “When” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is When Before Thy Throne We Kneel in the public domain?
Yes. John Bowring died in 1872, ascr., George Frederick Handel died in undefined; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1728. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.