From: baltuch@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: mutations, solmization in 18th century
Date: 5 Jan 93 04:40:52 GMT
Reply-To: baltuch@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University

Just when I thought I'd understood the system of Guidonian solmization,
mutations and hexachords...

First how I thought Guido's system worked: syllables ut (not do!), re, mi,
fa, sol, la (six total, no ti) designate either C, D, E, F, G, A (hexachord
of C) or G, A, B (=B quadro), C, D, E (hexachord of G) or F, G, A, Bb
(=B molle), C, D (hexachord of F) while singing.

One starts in one hexachord until encountering a note with no syllable
and switches (does a mutation) _right_before_ (looks like the system required
a bit of look ahead) on a pivot note, i.e. a note that belonged to (had a
syllable in) both hexachords, by singing something like "syllable-of-pivot-
-note-in-1st-hexachord syllable-of-pivot-note-in-2nd-hexachord" on the pivot
note. So far so good. At least that's how I thought it worked.

Now I look into Tosi's "Observations on the Florid Song" (ca 1750) and it
appears I was mistaken.

Tosi writes Italians use (and should use) only ut, re, mi, fa, sol and la and
rejects si as a French unnecessary novelty: "We Italians use only six
syllables but those are sufficient for reading all the notes for those who
know how to use them"

"All the notes" in Guido's system is "all the diatonic notes plus Bb". Tosi's
"all the notes" it's likely could no longer be only those unless Tosi is
pulling someone's leg, or was living way in the past. It's got to mean that by
his time the system had been extended to hexachords on all of the eight
pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, B or some other system was found to express
chromatisms. Follow some guesses of mine based on the one basic guess that
the system was indeed extended. (Implicit of course is the question, what is
the right answer if my guesses are wrong) 

First I felt I had to include Bb (an "honorary" diatonic note anyway) because
Tosi writes E-la-fa which could only mean Eb and only if there is a hexachord
on Bb. Of course that this is how altered pitches is expressed is a guess of
mine to begin with but it's clear he does use E-la-mi when he means E natural.

But this is not good enough: while it patches up the fa question it creates
a new one as Eb is no la on any of the eight hypothetical hexachords.
To have E-la-fa mean Eb one would have to assume that Guido's system had been
extended to Gb, and as there's no a priori reason why Gb would be special,
to all 21 notes, transforming it in effect into a "movable ut" system, except
using only the six Guidonian syllables (no ti that is)

But before taking such a bold step I think it's worth checking the basic
guesses with anyone around here who'd know more, and in particular that guess
that E-la-fa does in fact mean Eb (it's not very clear from the context)

Another reason which would lead me to believe that this is in fact what
Tosi meant is that with the eight proposed hexachords above one still
could express only F#, C#, G#, D#, Bb and Eb, which would imply being
limited in what one could solmize to only pieces going up to E major
and Bb major, not to mention being forced to write chromatisms in a funny
way sometimes.

On the other hand I'm not sure then as to why he'd still use expression such
as E-la-mi or E-la-fa and how you're supposed to choose the hexachord in terms
of which you'd give the syllable of the note; he never writes E-all-syllables-
-in-all-hexachords-containing-E 
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical