Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily in Tonic Solfa
Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (E)
- Range
- d to r' (C to D, a ninth)
- Tune
- MENSCH, WILLT DU LEBEN SELIGICH
- Words
- Martin Luther, Richard Massie
- Music
- Martin Luther
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune MENSCH, WILLT DU LEBEN SELIGICH by Martin Luther (1483–1546); words by Martin Luther (1483–1546); translated by Richard Massie (1800–1887). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mWilt---sthou,-sO- | lman,-tlive-d'hap--tpi-- |
| lly,---tAnd--- | d'dwell-swith-lGod-me-- |
| ster----m_-d_- | s_-fnal--mly,--- |
| tThe---d'ten-r'com-- | d'mand--lments-sekeep,-lfor- |
| tthus---mOur--- | tGod-d'Him--tself-s_- |
| lbid--fdeth-mus.-d_- | sKyr'--fe-mlei---- |
| mson!------- |
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 C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Wilt thou, O man, live happily,
And dwell with God eternally,
The ten commandments keep, for thus
Our God Himself biddeth us.
Kyr' eleison!
I am the Lord and God!
take heed No other god doth thee mislead;
Thy heart shall trust alone in
Me, My kingdom then thou shalt be.
Honor My Name in word and deed,
And call on Me in time of need:
Hallow the Sabbath, that I may
Work in thy heart on that day.
Obedient always, next to
Me, To father and to mother be;
Kill no man: even anger dread;
Keep sacred thy marriage bed.
Steal not, nor do thy neighbor wrong
By bearing witness with false tongue;
Thy neighbor's wife desire thou not,
Nor grudge him aught he hath got.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 (E).
- 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
The words are by Martin Luther, first published in 1524. The English translation is by Richard Massie (1854). The tune, MENSCH, WILLT DU LEBEN SELIGICH, is by Martin Luther (1524). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1524): Martin Luther (1483–1546)
- Translated (1854): Richard Massie (1800–1887)
- Music (1524): Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune MENSCH, WILLT DU LEBEN SELIGICH by Martin Luther (1483–1546); words by Martin Luther (1483–1546); translated by Richard Massie (1800–1887). 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 Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily
What is the doh of Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily start on?
It starts on m (E in C major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Wilt Thou, O Man, Live Happily in the public domain?
Yes. Martin Luther died in 1546, Richard Massie died in 1887, Martin Luther died in 1546; the words were first published in 1854 and the music in 1524. 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.