Solfaing : the history of four-syllable solmization to the present day

Abstract

The History of Four-Syllable Solmization to the Present Day. This thesis traces the history of solfaing, a four-syllable method of solmization, from its first presentation by William Bathe (1564-1614) in his A Briefe Introduction to the Skill of Song to its persistence in present-day America. Scholarship has not yet accurately linked the American publications to their heritage, nor the English tradition to its progeny. It is possible, by study of the theoretical sources, as well as of hymn and psalm books, to trace a direct line of transmission from Bathe’s publication to the revisions of shape-note tunebooks still in use as part of the ‘Sacred Harp’ tradition.