This Latin hymn to St. John [the Baptist] is important, but you don't have to read Latin to learn from it.
Ut queant laxis
resonare fibris.
Mira gestorum
famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti
labii reatum,
Sancte Iohannes
Here's the translation:
So that my weak (or slack) vocal chords can praise your wondrous deeds, cleanse my polluted lips, Saint John
Did you hear it? Each of the syllables ut re mi fa sol la si is sung higher than the one before.This hymn is where we get the syllables of the solfeggio, developed by a medieval Benedictine monk named Guido d'Arezzo:
Guido d'Arezzo or Guido Aretinus , c.990-1050, Italian Benedictine monk, known for his contributions to musical notation and theory. His theoretical work Micrologus (c.1025) is one of the principal sources of our knowledge of organum , an early form of polyphony. His work in musical notation included the addition of two lines (one red, one yellow) to the two already serving as a staff and the use of both the lines and the spaces. Also important was his system of solmization (sometimes called, after him, Aretinian syllables), whereby the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la are used as names for the six tones, C to A, known as the hexachord. As the octave replaced the hexachord, an additional syllable, si or ti, was added, and eventually ut was replaced by the more singable do.

ut-do... Where we get uh-oh...
Posted by: MC | March 29, 2009 at 04:10 AM
d'oh
Posted by: gail | April 02, 2009 at 10:30 PM