Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

—
;
494 SOGGETTO SOLESMES
which is animated by such sincere devotion
and stamped by such a high degree of originality
and masterly finish, as to rank among the
choicest gems of Swedish music.
Another of his works worth mention is his
music to the poeti-y of Bellman. This poet,
whose genius is akin to that of Marlowe, has
written a number of rhapsodies, depicting the
gay, jovial, and careless nature of the Swede,
with a force of animal spirit and genuine originality
which few other poets have equalled ;
and to these productions, which every Swede
knows by heart, Sbderman set music.
The foreign composers who seem to have influenced
his more elaborate productions are
Beethoven, Schubert, and, in particular, Schumann.
His compositions, though thoroughly
Swedish, are not national ; they bear the impress
of the vigorous and energetic nature of
the Northerner, which makes Scandinavian compositions
so charming. Soderman died Feb. 10,
1876, at the early age of forty -four, and a
national subscription was at once raised in
Sweden for the benefit of his widow and
children. It was a token of the gratitude
and respect of a musical nation for a great
composer. c. s^
SOGGETTO (Ital. Svbject or Theme). The
true subject of an orthodox Fugue as opposed
to the Andamento, which is a subject of abnormal
length ; and the Attacoo, which is a mere Point
of Imitation.
In its most regular form, the Soggetto consists
of a single homogeneous section ; as in No. 1 of
'
Das Wohltemperirte Clavier. ' Occasionally,
however, its division into two sections is very
clearly marked ; as inNo. 7 of thesame. Subjecta
of this last-named class frequently make a very
near approach to the Andamento, fi-om which
they sometimes differ only in their less extended
dimensions. [See Andamento and Attaoco,
and FUGTJE, vol. ii. p. 116o.] w. s. R.
SOKALSKY, Pbte^ Petkovioh, bom at
Kharkov, Sept. 26, 1832 ; died at Odessa in
March 1887. He was educated at the University
of Kharkov, and while acting as under-master
in one of the public schools in the town began
to collect the folk-songs of the district. Later
in life (1857-60) he was Secretary to the
Russian Consulate in New York, and on his
return to Russia became editor of the Odessa
News. Sokalsky composed several operas :
'Maria' ('Mazeppa'), 'A Night in May,' and
'
The Siege of Doubno ' (irom Gogol's Tarass
Boulba). His article upon The OhiTiese Scale in
Russian Naiional Music, and Jttissian National
Music (Kharkov, 1888), are valuable to students
of this subject.
Vladimir Ivanovich, his nephew, born at
Heidelberg, May 6, 1863, studied law at the
university of Kharkov. His unpublished compositions
include a symphony in G minor
(Kharkov, 1894), a dramatic Fantasia, an
Eastern March, and an Andante Elegiaco for
violoncello and orchestra. His pianoforte pieces,
'Impressions Musicales' op. 1, the pianoforte
suite ' In the Meadows,' and some songs, have
been published. R. N.
SOKOLOV, Nicholas Alexandeovioh,
composer, born in St. Petersburg, 1859. Here
he studied at the Conservatorium from 1877
to 1885 and was a pupil of Rirasky-Korsakov.
'
His chief compositions are : Elegy ' (op. 4),
and incidental music to Shakespeare's Winter's
'
Tale,' for orchestra ; three string quartets,
opp. 7, 14, and 20 ; eight pieces for violin and
pianoforte ;
six for violoncello and pianoforte
seven choruses a cappella ; four choruses for
female voices ; about eighty songs, and a ballet
entitled 'The "Wild Swans.' R. N.
SOL. The fifth note of the natural scale
according to the nomenclature of France and
Italy ; in English and German G. In the old
hymn from which Guido is supposed to have
formed the scale it occurs as follows :
Ut queant laxis resonaTe fibris,
Mil-a gestorum/amuli tuorum,
Solve pollutis labia reatis,
Sancte Johannes.
SOLDAT, Marie (Madame Soldat-Eoger),
violinist, was born at Graz on March 25, 1864.
In her fifth year she studied the pianoforte
under her father, a professional organist. Two
years. later she began to learn the, organ, and
was soon able occasionally to act as substitute
for her father. Then in her eighth year she
took up the violin, under Pleiner, and appeared
in public when ten years of age, performing the
'
Fantaisie-Caprioe ' of Vieuxtemps, a type of
music with which she has not since been identified.
Coming under the influence of Joachim
and Brahms she resumed study in the Berlin
Hochschule in 1879, remaining there tUl 1882
and gaining the Mendelssohn prize. She subsequently
took private lessons from Joachim,
whose repertoire both of solo and chamber music
she adopted, making a special study of the
Brahms concerto, which she introduced for the
first time to a Viennese audience under Richter.
In 1889 she was married to Hen Roger, a
lawyer by profession, but has since continued
her public career. She has travelled a great
deal as a soloist, visiting England occasionally
(playing for tjie first time at a concert of the
Bach Choir, March 1, 1888), and has a following
among those who admire solid before brilliant
acquirements. w. w. c.
SOLESMES. A village near Le Mans, whose
Benedictine monastery has become famous
through the labours of its monks in the restoration
of liturgical music, forwhichthey established
a printing press, with special type.
The order of the
' Congregation of France,'
better known in England as the ' Benedictines
of Solesmes,' was founded in 1833 by Dom
Prosper Gu^ranger, who became the first Abbot.