THE FIRST NOTES

Actor Andrews and her daughter Walton Hamilton offer an account of the 11th-century monk who invented Solfège, which in turn became the modern system of musical staff notation.

Introducing Guido d’Arezzo as a small boy in Pomposa, Italy, the writers gracefully weave in details about his education in the monastery and the sounds that surrounded him. Finding it hard to memorize the hymns, he devised a notation system to make learning easier, using the six syllables that began the lines of a familiar hymn (“ut,” “re,” “mi,” “fa,” “sol," “la”). Though his teachers dismissed his ideas, he drew on them when he trained the choir at the cathedral of Arezzo, and his methods proved so successful he was invited to Rome by the pope. The book concludes by explaining that Guido’s notes changed over time; “ut” became “do,” and the seventh note, “ti,” was added later. This leads smoothly into illustrated scenes of monastery life accompanied by the lyrics of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song made famous by Andrews’ performance in the film version of their musical The Sound of Music. Fedele’s playful art, done in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil, expresses contrasting moods beautifully and adds context. Extensive backmatter makes this useful for an even older audience. Even libraries still owning Susan Roth’s Do, Re, Mi (2007) will want this richer depiction. The characters present as White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A charming collaboration that strikes just the right notes.