Solmization and the Cornetto: Historical Fingering and the Durum-Molle Dichotomy

Abstract

Solmization is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic aspects of music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Descriptions of this hexachordal note-naming system appear in virtually all musical treatises of the period, and demonstrate its centrality to melodic structure and shape.

While awareness of the mnemonic properties of solmization, and its role in teaching singing, has persisted in various modern commentaries, the specific timbral associations of certain note names, as related by important writers such as Agricola, Glarean, and others, have largely been overlooked. Despite recent work by performer-researchers such as Anne Smith and Jamie Savan, the potential for the durum-molle (hard-soft) dichotomy, embodied in the mi-fa melodic semitone, to guide musical phrasing and expression has yet to gain widespread traction in historically informed performance.

This study seeks to align the practice of hexachordal solmization with the fingering system of the cornetto, extending the work of Savan and Smith by providing the first comprehensive study of solmization in relation to a specific instrument. Given the close relationship between the cornetto and the voice, it is an instrument perfectly suited to explore solmization; a system designed around the voice. Drawing from a comprehensive survey of cornetto fingering charts and spectrographic analyses of mi-fa note combinations, it will be argued that the fingering systems used by most of modern reproduction instruments are inconsistent with the evidence provided by surviving instruments, fingering charts, and treatises.

The research will show that historical cornetto fingerings for mi-fa note combinations embodied the durum-molle dichotomy in the comparative timbre of forked and unforked fingerings. It will argue that the use of instruments and fingering systems more appropriate to the majority of the repertoire played on the cornetto can unlock a remarkable expressive potential.