solfege (sul-fezh')

An exercise for Fr. the n.voice in which a tone one step higher in pitch than the one preceding. The hymn was 504 485 solmisation sonata "UT queant lax is, REs on are fibris sombre (sofi-br) Fr. v. MIra gestorum FAmuli tuorum Literally, somber: to produce a SOlve polluti LAbii reatum, Sancte somber, veiled tone in singing; a device used for dramatic effect. Johannes." The syllables first used were ut, re, mi, fa, sol and la, but somma expre i one si-6'-ne) It. (som'-ma es-preswith the Seventeenth Century came the introduction of a scale containing Exceedingly great expre ion. seven tones, and a new syllable, si, sommeils (su-me-ya') Fr. n. was invented. Later it was decided Drowsine ; sleep; repose: the that as do was much easier to sing it French use the name to distinguish should be substituted for ut as the the melodies of their operas of the old name of the first degree, and the reschool because they were designed to vised series, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, produce repose. Some composers even have remained in universal use alwent so far as to attempt to induce though several times changes have drowsine . been suggested. Sommerlied (zom'-mer-let) Ger. n. Summer song; a song of summer. solmisiren (zol-m!-ze'-ren) Ger. v. sommerophone