E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Aretin’ian Syllables.
Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, used by Guido d’Arezzo in the eleventh century for his system of hexachords. Hexachord means a scale of six notes. They are the first syllables of some words in the opening stanza of a hymn for St. John’s Day. “Ut queant laxis re-sonare fibris,” etc. Si, the seventh note, was not introduced till the seventeenth century. Originally thescale consisted of six notes only. (See Do.)
1
“Auparavant on ne se servait que de six notes; et on remplacait le si au moyen de combinaisons appelees nuances.”—Bou llet: Dictionnarie des Sciences, p. 1523, col. 2.)
