When My Last Hour Is Close at Hand in Tonic Solfa
When My Last Hour Is Close at Hand in Tonic Solfa to MIT FREUDEN ZART, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dWhen--- | mmy-flast-shour---d'is--- | tclose-lat-shand---lAnd--s_ |
| fI-mmust-rhence---mbe--f_- | rtake---dme,---dLord--- |
| mJe--fsus-sChrist,---d'be---- | tside-lme-sstand,---lNor--s_ |
| flet-mThy-rhelp---mfor--f_- | rsake---dme;---d'To--- |
| tThy-lblest-shands---d'I--- | tnow-lcom--smend---sMy--- |
| dsoul,-rat-mthis---dmy--- | mearth--fely-send,---sAnd--- |
| lThou-fwilt-rsafe----mly-f_- | rkeep---dit.--- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- MIT FREUDEN ZART
- Music
- Bohemian Brethren's Kirchengesange
Tune MIT FREUDEN ZART (Bohemian Brethren's Kirchengesange); words by Nikolaus Herman (died 1561); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). 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 Eb · 3/2
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
When my last hour is close at hand
And I must hence betake me,
Lord Jesus Christ, beside me stand,
Nor let Thy help forsake me;
To Thy blest hands I now commend
My soul, at this my earthly end,
And Thou wilt safely keep it.
My sins, dear Lord, disturb me sore,
My conscience cannot slumber;
But though as sands upon the shore
My sins may be in number,
I will not quail, but think of Thee;
Thy death, Thy sorrow, borne for me,
Thy sufferings, shall uphold me.
I have been grafted in the Vine
And hence my comfort borrow,
For Thou wilt surely keep me Thine
Through fear and pain and sorrow;
Yea, though I die, I die to Thee,
Who through Thy death hast won for me
The right to life eternal.
Since Thou from death didst rise again,
In death Thou wilt not leave me;
Lord, Thy ascension soothes my pain,
No fear of death shall grieve me;
For Thou wilt have me where Thou art,
And so with joy I can depart
To be with Thee forever.
And so I stretch mine arms to Thee
And gladly hence betake me;
Peaceful and calm my sleep shall be,
No human voice can wake me.
But Christ is with me through the strife,
And He will bear me into life
And open heaven before me.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 (E♭), on the word “When”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/2 means three minim 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 and the chromatic fe. 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
Nikolaus Herman wrote these words in German. Catherine Winkworth's translation was printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 528.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked 8.7.8.7.8.8.7, to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to MIT FREUDEN ZART; any other 8.7.8.7.8.8.7 tune fits them as well.
- Words: Nikolaus Herman (died 1561)
- Translated: Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)
- Melody (1566): Bohemian Brethren's Kirchengesange
Tune MIT FREUDEN ZART (Bohemian Brethren's Kirchengesange); words by Nikolaus Herman (died 1561); translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878).
Sung to the same tune: Great God, What Do I See and Hear, Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above.
Questions about When My Last Hour Is Close at Hand
What is the doh of When My Last Hour Is Close at Hand?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 My Last Hour Is Close at Hand start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the word “When” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is When My Last Hour Is Close at Hand in the public domain?
Yes. Nikolaus Herman died in 1561, Catherine Winkworth died in 1878; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1566. 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.