![Sarah Ann Glover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Sarah_Ann_Glover.jpg)
Sarah Anna Glover (13 November 1786 – 20 October 1867) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
music educator who invented the
Norwich sol-fa system.
Her Sol-fa system was based on the ancient
gamut
In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain ''complete subset'' of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given circ ...
; but she omitted the constant recital of the alphabetical names of each note and the arbitrary syllable indicating key relationship, and also the recital of two or more such syllables when the same note was common to as many keys (e.g. C, Fa, Ut, meaning that C is the
subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...
of G and the
tonic of C). The notes were represented by the initials of the seven syllables, C, D, E, F, S, L, T; still in use today as their names.
Early life
Glover was born in The Close,
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
. She was baptized at St Mary in the Marsh on 18 November 1786.
Glover received music lessons from the organist of Norwich Cathedral at the age of six. While teaching a Sunday school with her sister, she began creating her own simplified notation system now known as the Norwich Sol-Fa system. Not much of her career is known until her late twenties.
Career
Her father became
Curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
of
St Laurence's Church, Norwich in 1811, which led to her taking over the music for the Church around that time. Her influence made the Church respected for its music and young women were sent to her for training. In 1812, Sarah started developing her educational methods that ended in two major publishings ''German Canons or Singing Exercises and Psalm Tunes Expressed in the Sol-Fa Notation of Music'' and ''Scheme for Rendering Psalmody Congregational.'' By 1827, she had developed a complete method musical notation, Norwich Sol-Fa, that she was using while teaching at an all girls school that she founded in Black Boy Yard, Norwich. In Sarah's notation system, the notes were represented by the initials of the seven tones of the diatonic scale. In doing this, she gave the name "ti" for the seventh scale degree that we still use today. She developed this learning system to aid teachers with
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
singing. Her 1835 instructional book ''Scheme for Rendering Psalmody Congregational'' met with great success.
[Glover, Sarah Ann (1835). ''A Scheme for Rendering Psalmody Congregational; Comprising a Key to the Sol-fa Notation of Music, and Directions for Instructing a School.'' Jarrold & Sons][Glover, Sarah Ann (1850). ''The Tetrachordal System.'' Jarrold & Sons] It was later refined and developed by John Curwen, who did so without her permission. While there was ongoing, intellectual conversation between Glover and Curwen, there was always friction. The concept became well known in popular culture after it was featured in a song from ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
''.
Sarah Glover also invented the harmonicon, which was an instrument designed to help her teach her music notation system. The harmonicon is a glockenspiel-like instrument spanning two chromatic octaves. Made of 25 glass keys, the instrument works by rotating a roller displaying the notes of the scale and the letters of the alphabet, which could be rotated to align with different musical keys.
Glover later lived in
Cromer
Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline.
The local government authorities are Nor ...
, then
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, then
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
. She died of a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
in
Great Malvern
Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is ...
and was buried in Hereford.
See also
*
Psalmist movement
Psalmist movement is a term that covers a period of mass musical education in Britain having its roots in the dissenting congregational church singing organisations of late 18th century in regional Scotland and Northern England, which, by the mid ...
*Jane Southcott (2019) biography of Glover https://rowman.com/isbn/9781793606044
References
External links
Glover biography, illustration, and monumentvia norwichchurches.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Sarah Ann
1785 births
1867 deaths
Educators from Norwich
19th-century English educators
British music educators
English women educators
Women music educators
19th-century women educators
19th-century English women