Who Shall Towards Thy Chosen Seat in Tonic Solfa
Who Shall Towards Thy Chosen Seat in Tonic Solfa to RATISBON (WERNER), doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sWho-sshall-ltowards-tthy- | d'cho--d'sen-tseat--- |
| lTurn,-d'O-sLord,-mhis- | ffa--rvored-dfeet?--- |
| mWho-mshall-rat-mthine- | fal--ftar-mbend?--- |
| mWho-lshall-seZi--lon's- | thill-tas--lcend?--- |
| d'Who,-lgreat-sGod,-ma- | fwel--fcome-mguest,--- |
| lOn-lthy-sho--mly- | rmoun--rtain-drest?--- |
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- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (A)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- RATISBON (WERNER)
- Words
- James Merrick
- Music
- Werner's Choralbuch, William Henry Havergal
Tune RATISBON (WERNER) by William Henry Havergal (1793–1870); words by James Merrick (1720–1769). 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
Who shall towards thy chosen seat
Turn, O Lord, his favored feet?
Who shall at thine altar bend?
Who shall Zion's hill ascend?
Who, great God, a welcome guest,
On thy holy mountain rest?
He whose heart thy love has warmed,
He whose will, to thine conformed,
Bids his life unsullied run;
He whose word and thought are one;
Who, from sin's contagion free,
Lifts his willing soul to thee.
He who thus, with heart unstained,
Treads the path by thee ordained,
He shall towards thy chosen seat
Turn, O Lord, his favored feet;
He thy ceaseless care shall prove,
He shall share thy constant love.
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).
- 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 and the chromatic se. 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
James Merrick wrote these words. They were printed in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 346 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “"Who shall abide in thy tabernacle?" Ps. 15”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens, six lines (7.7.7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to RATISBON (WERNER); any other Sevens, six lines tune fits them as well.
- Words: James Merrick (1720–1769)
- Melody (1815): Werner's Choralbuch
- Harmony (1861): William Henry Havergal (1793–1870)
Tune RATISBON (WERNER) by William Henry Havergal (1793–1870); words by James Merrick (1720–1769).
Sung to the same tune: As the Hart, with Eager Looks, Centre of Our Hopes Thou Art, Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies, Ever Patient, Loving, Meek, Holy Spirit, Come with Power, It Is Finished! Glorious Word, Jesu, Shepherd of the Sheep, Jesus, I Believe Thee Near, Jesus, While He Dwelt Below, Lamb of God, Who Bear'st Away, On Thy Church, O Power Divine, Praise to God, Immortal Praise, Quiet, Lord, My Froward Heart, Safely Through Another Week, Savior Shine and Cheer My Soul, Weary Souls, That Wander Wide, When the Parting Bosom Bleeds.
Questions about Who Shall Towards Thy Chosen Seat
What is the doh of Who Shall Towards Thy Chosen Seat?
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 Who Shall Towards Thy Chosen Seat start on?
It starts on s (A in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Who Shall Towards Thy Chosen Seat in the public domain?
Yes. James Merrick died in 1769, William Henry Havergal died in 1870; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1815. 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.