Lost in Translation by Pepe Santos

" A-B-C ... is easy as 1-2-3...

or simple as Do-Re-Mi

A-B-C, 1-2-3,

baby, you and me girl!"

We all remember that talented child called Michael Jackson singing the lyrics, numbers and musical scale in this song back in the 70s. When we talk or write about music, we frequently use syllables to refer to each note: Do-Re-Mi… However, this symbols are not universally recognized everywhere. In countries such as the USA, UK, Germany or Ireland, our partners normally use the letters from the alphabet, though starting from La. Thus, “A” stands for “La”, “B” for “Si”, “C” means “Do” and so on… But Latin and Mediterranean languages prefer the mentioned syllables. Just let me point out another funny thing about the scale: English-speaking countries use “So” for “Sol” and “Ti” for “Si”. For these reasons, the universal language of music is no longer universal when referring to translated musical terms but it keeps on being world accepted when reading a score.

An Italian monk named Guido d’Arezzo was the very first one to come up with the idea of representing the musical scale by means of symbols on a staff. At first, the notes were written on a single line. Later, a second one was added, in a different colour and as centuries went by, we came to the pentagram which we use at present. Guido’s invention was quite significant and set the first key stone to establish a system for the musical scale, thanks to which the greatest composers in history have produced their legacy. Guido lived in the 11^th century. Previous civilations such as Egyptians, Romans and Greeks surely composed a lot of interesting music, but it didn’t last because of the lack of a system to keep a printed record.

Also, it was Guido the one to put the name to the notes of the musical scale that we are using currently. At that time, there was a well-known hymn to St. John which was very popular among the monks of his monastery. That hymn happened to have a peculiar structure in which each verse started with a higher pitch than the previous one. It read like this:

Ut queant laxis

Resonare fibris

Mira gestorum

Famuli tuorum

Solve polluti

Labii reatum

Sancte Ioannes.

Guido took the very first syllable of each verse to name the six notes: Ut-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La. Centurias later “Ut” was changad for “Do” which seems moire suitable for singing, and the 7^th note was added, “Si”, which is the abbreviation of “Sante Ioanes”, the last line of the verses of the hymn. Guido’s system allowed many monks to read music, relieving the memory effort of learning long hours of Gregorian melodies. Also, intonation turned out to be easier as each pitch was identified with a specific syllable. Guido’s invention has gone through some changes and implemented centuries later but it keeps the essence up to nowadays and it is still used by millions of musicians all over the world. Probably, he would never have imagined that it might be still alive 1000 years after his death.

Just keeping the distances, Guido’s idea was similar to Julie Andrews’ approach when singing in “the sound of music”. She was the nanny teaching music and other things who was able to conquer the widower’s heart. The film was shot in English and later translated into Spanish with a funny title “Sonrisas y lágrimas (laughter and tears)”. Tradutore, traditore… as they tend to change part of the texts, especially with songs. It takes an effort to think of the translator trying to keep to the idea while trying to match the lyrics with the syllables and the melody with the difficulty of the suitable rhyme.

This song is a really special case since Mary (Julie Andrews) tries to explain the children the meaning of the musical scale setting very different examples. The first verse reads “Doe” in English which becomes “Don” in Spanish. Can we infer therefore that “Doe and Don” sound the same?. The differences are clear when comparing both versions, not only because of the meaning and content but also, which is worse, because of intonation and appropriateness. So, we should try to watch films not dubbed, the original soundtrack with or without subtitles, is always much richer. Let me finish with the song in both languages for you o compare:

Doe, a deer, a female deer

Ray, a drop of golden sun

Me, a name I call myself

Far, a long, long way to run

Sew, a needle pulling thread

La, a note to follow Sew

Tea, a drink with jam and bread

That will bring us back to Do (oh-oh-oh)

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Don, es trato de barón.

Res, selvático animal.

Mi, denota posesión.

Fa(r) es “lejos” en inglés.

Sol, ardiente esfera es.

La, al nombre es anterior.

Sí, asentimiento es

Y otra vez ya viene el Do.