Ut queant laxis
From Free net encyclopedia
Ut queant laxis or Hymnus in Ioannem is a hymn to Saint John the Baptist written by Paulus Diaconus, the Lombard historian. It is notable in that the first syllable of each line gave its name to a successive note of the hexachord in solfege, as each line begins with the successively higher note, until the last line, which returns to "sol". In the Roman Catholic Church, the hymn is sung in the Divine Office on June 24, the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. The full hymn is divided into three parts, with Ut queant laxis sung at Vespers, Antra deserti sung at Matins, O nimis felix sung at Lauds, and doxologies added after the first two parts.
The first stanza is:
- Ut queant laxis resonare fibris
- Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
- Solve polluti labii reatum,
- Sancte Ioannes.
It may be translated: So that your servants may, with loosened voices, resound the wonders of your deeds, clean the guilt from our stained lips, O Saint John.
Ut is now mostly replaced by do due to the latter's open sound, probably inspired by the word Dominus (Lord). The seventh note was not part of the medieval hexachord and does not occur in this melody, but it may be called si or ti.
The use of Ut queant laxis to name the notes is usually attributed to Guido of Arezzo.