SOLENT 



SOL-FA SYSTEM 



Solent, tin- western portion of the strait that 

 intervene* between the Isle of Wight and the main- 

 land of England. It U 17 miles long, and about 

 .'{ in average breadth, but contract* to j mile at 

 Hurst Castle (1535), built by Henry V11I. to guard 

 !te entrance on the south-west; and here the ti<l>- 

 flows with a rapidity which at certain times no 

 boat can stem. 



Soleure ( Ger. Solothurn ), a canton in the north 

 of Switzerland, bounded mi the \V. ami S. by Bern, 

 and on the N. and E. by Basel and Aargau. Area, 

 306 s,|. in.; pop. (1880) 80,424; (1888) 85,821, 

 mostly Konian Catholics and speakers of Ger- 

 man. The greater portion of the canton is fertile 

 and well cultivated, especially in the valley of 

 the Aar. Hut it also embraces outlying ranges 

 of the Alpine and Jura systems. Besides grain, 

 the principal products are fruit, timber, cherry- 

 brandv, cheese, cotton, paper, iron, hose, clocks, 

 &c. The canton consiste of the territories acquired 

 by the town of Soleure. The legislative council is 

 elected by the people, and that body chooses the 

 executive (5 members), both for four years. But 

 both bodies are subject to the immediate control of 

 the people, as well as every act they <ln, by means 

 of the referendum. The toicn of Soleure, the capital 

 of the canton, is situated on lioth sides of the Aar, 

 18 miles NNE. of Bern by rail. The most notable 

 building is the cathedral of St Ursus, built in 1762- 

 63 on the site of an older church (1050), with a 

 cupola and facade of Corinthian columns. There 

 are also a curious old clock tower, an arsenal with 

 a museum of ancient trophies of war, and collec- 

 tions of antiquities. The principal objects of in- 

 dustry are cotton, clocks, and cement. Pop. 8305. 

 Solenre (Salodurum) was a place of some con- 

 sequence in Roman times, was made a free city of 

 the empire (1218), joined the Swiss Confederation 

 in MM. and in 1828 was chosen the bishop's see 

 for the diocese of Basel. Close by are the baths of 

 Weisscnstein, with a celebrated whey -cure ' that 

 is very much frequented. 



Sol-fa System. Attempts have been made at 

 various times to introduce a musical notation in 

 which the staff with its lines and spaces is disitensed 

 with. Jean Jacques Rousseau suggested, but 

 afterwards discarded, a notation where the notes 

 of the scale were indicated by the Arabic numerals 

 a principle which is the chief feature of the 

 Chevc system, now largely used in France. A 

 system similar to Rousseau's in it* leading features, 

 called tlm Tonic Sol-fa, has been brought into use 

 in many singing-schools in Britain ami America 

 it- chief promoter being the Rev. John Curwen 

 (q.v. ), who obtained his main principles about 1840 



from Miss Glover, a teacher at Norwich. It is be- 

 lieved that now a million and a half of children am 

 learning to sin- on this method in British primary 

 schools. The system proceeds on the principle 

 of giving the chief prominence to the fact that 

 there is in reality but one scale in music, which is 

 raised or lowered according to the pitch of the key. 

 The seven notes of the diatonic scale are repre- 

 sented by the s.ilte^io (q.v.) syllables, or rather 

 Miss Glover's modification of them Doh, Bay, Me, 

 Fah, Soh, Lah, Te ; Doh standing for the keynote 

 in whatever key the music is written. In the early 

 exercises the pupils are accustomed to a scale or 

 diagram, called the Modulator, re- 

 presenting pictoriallv the exact in- 

 tervals of a key, with the semitones 

 in their proper places. In written 

 music only the initial letters of the 

 solfeggio syllables are used d, r, 

 in. f, s, 1, t ; the higher octaves of 

 a given note being distinguished by 

 a ' above, as d 1 , r 1 ; and the lower 

 by a i or , below, in,, m.,. The te 



name of the key is prefixed to a tune to 

 as its signature, as ' Key A,' ' Key 

 B flat ' the keynote being, in all 

 the major keys, doh. To indicate 



rhythm a perpendicular line pre- 

 cedes the stronger or louder accent, 

 a colon : the softer accent, and, where 

 necessary, a shorter perpendicular 

 line | the accent of medium force. 

 A note immediately following an 

 accent mark is supposed to occupy 

 the time from that accent to the 

 next. A horizontal line indicates 

 the continuance of the previous note 

 through another pulse or beat. A 

 dot divides a pulse into equal sub- 

 divisions. A dot after a mark of 

 continuance indicates that the pre- 

 vious note is to be continued through 

 half that pulse. A comma indicates 

 that the note preceding it fills a 

 quarter of the time from one accent 

 to the next ; a dot and comma to- Modulator, 

 gether three-quarters. An inverted 

 comma i is used to denote that the note preceding 

 it (ills one-third of the time from one accent to the 

 next. An unfilled space indicates a rest or pause 

 of the voice. A line below two or more notes 

 signifies that they are to be sung to the same 

 syllable. We subjoin an example of the tonic sol- 

 fa shown alongside of the ordinary notation, and 

 illustrating most of the features named : 



lah 



M 



soh 



fah 



me 



ray 



doh 



t, 



1, 



KEY A. 



GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. 



d :d :r | tj :-.d : r | m :m :f | m :-.r :d | r :d :t, | d: : 1| s :s :s 



s 



S :-.f :m f :f :f f :-.m : r m :f. m :r.d m :-.f :8 1, s, f : m :r d : : 



In modulating into a new key the note through 

 which the transition is taken in indicated by a com- 

 bination of the syllabic name which it has in the 

 old key with that which it has in the new me lah, 

 for example, Ix-ing conjoined into m'luli : and in 

 writing this note (termed a bridge note I the initial 

 letter of it syllable, as a memlier of the old key, 

 is placed in small size before and above the initial 



of the syllable of the new, as '"1, '<s. In the case, 

 however, of an accidental, where the transition is 

 but momentary, a sharpened note changes ita 

 syllabic vowel into c, ami a flattened note into ate, 

 swelled a, taifah,fe; soh, se ; te. ta. In the minor 

 mode lull is the keynote ; the sharp sixth is called 

 l"i;i, and the sharp seventh se. The signature of 

 the key of A minor is 'KeyC;' lah is A. The 



