When Shall Thy Love Constrain in Tonic Solfa
When Shall Thy Love Constrain in Tonic Solfa to AYLESBURY, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 12 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| l,When---mshall-rthy- | dlove-t,con--l,strain,--- |
| mAnd---sforce-fme- | mto-rthy-mbreast?--- |
| __dWhen-t,shall-l,my- | msoul-dre--rturn-da-- |
| t,gain-l,To-mher-re-- | dter----t,nal--- |
| l,rest?------- |
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- Key
- F minor
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (F)
- Range
- l, to s (F to E♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- AYLESBURY
- Words
- Charles Wesley, John Wesley
- Music
- From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AYLESBURY (From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) or John Wesley (1703–1791). 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 Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
When shall thy love constrain,
And force me to thy breast?
When shall my soul return again
To her eternal rest?
Ah! what avails my strife,
My wandering to and fro?
Thou hast the words of endless life;
Ah! whither should I go?
Thy condescending grace
To me did freely move;
It calls me still to seek thy face,
And stoops to ask my love.
Lord, at thy feet I fall!
I groan to be set free;
I fain would now obey the call,
And give up all for thee.
To rescue me from woe,
Thou didst with all things part;
Didst lead a suffering life below,
To gain my worthless heart.
My worthless heart to gain,
The God of all that breathe
Was found in fashion as a man,
And died a cursed death.
And can I yet delay
My little all to give?
To tear my soul from earth away,
For Jesus to receive?
Nay, but I yield, I yield!
I can hold out no more,
I sink, by dying love compelled,
And own thee conqueror.
Though late, I all forsake,
My friends, my all resign;
Gracious Redeemer, take, O take,
And seal me ever thine!
Come and possess me whole.
Nor hence again remove:
Settle and fix my wavering soul
With all thy weight of love.
My one desire be this,
Thy only love to know;
To seek and taste no other bliss
No other good below.
My Life, my portion thou,
Thou all-sufficient art;
My hope, my heavenly treasure, now
Enter, and keep my heart.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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 l, (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
John Wesley printed these words in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 137. They first appeared in a book he and his brother Charles published together, and the Collection's own index cannot say which of the two wrote them.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Short Metre (6.6.8.6), and this page sets them to AYLESBURY; any other Short Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Words: John Wesley (1703–1791)
- Melody (1718): From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AYLESBURY (From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) or John Wesley (1703–1791). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune 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: "Blest Are the Meek," He Said, "Is This a Fast for Me?", And Will the God of Grace, Behold, the Grace Appears, Beside the Gospel Pool, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, Come at the Morning Hour, Come, Holy Ghost, in Might, Commit Thou All Thy Griefs, Far from These Scenes of Night, Father, I Will Not Pray, Great God, at Thy Command, How Heavy Is the Night, How Sweet the Melting Lay, I Hear the Voice of Woe, I Love Thy Church, O God, I Love Thy Zion, Lord, I Would, but Cannot Sing, Jesus Invites His Saints, Lord Jesus, Come! for Here, Lord, in the Strength of Grace, Mine Eyes and My Desire, My Former Hopes Are Dead, Now Is the Day of Grace, O Bless the Lord, My Soul, O Lord! Through Thee We Own, O the Almighty Lord, O, for the Death of Those, See What a Living-stone, Shall We Go on to Sin, Sing to the Lord Aloud, That Blessed Law of Thine, The Best That Heaven Could Bring, The Hours of Evening Close, The Lord My Shepherd Is, The Savior Kindly Calls, Thou One Begotten Son, Thy Name, Almighty Lord, Thy Word Invites Us Nigh, Tossed on the Sea of Life, We Lift Our Hearts to Thee, Welcome, Sweet Day of Rest, When Overwhelmed with Grief.
Questions about When Shall Thy Love Constrain
What is the doh of When Shall Thy Love Constrain?
In this version, in F minor, doh is Ab. 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 Shall Thy Love Constrain start on?
It starts on l, (F in F minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is When Shall Thy Love Constrain in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, John Wesley died in 1791; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1718. 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.