Old behaviour (temperament)

[Jeff Tanner]

Ed Foote wrote:
>   Techs that tune only one way are missing out on a big part of the art.  It
>matters not whether they adhere to ET or WT or MT or AT,  If you only tune
>one way, there is, by definition,  a limit in place.  It seems that if a tech
>relies solely on one temperament, they are either convinced of its
>superiority, unable to learn others, afraid of something new, or just don't
>care.  If anyone has another explanation, please let me know!
>Ed Foote RPT

Hi Ed,
I'd like to respond to this.  Let me preface by stating that I'm completely
open to tuning any temperament which someone else has done the research on
has requested.

But many of our jobs are too big as it is to spend time on researching and
learning old ways of tuning.  I'm new and uninformed on the subject, but it
appears to me that the field of Historical Temperaments is even larger and
more complicated than you project it to be.  There are soooo many different
versions of different temperaments, which can all be pitched in different
keys.  It seems to me you really would have to be a music history and
theory expert in addition to a tuner, to be able to apply the temperaments
in the correct context.  We then have to wear more hats than I can keep on
my head, IMO.

In my mind, the main reason to use an HT is to try to recreate what
composers might have heard when they were composing.  That appears to be a
massive undertaking.  So many to choose from and not knowing which one to
use for which composition.  And our jobs are big enough already, especially
no more than CAUT techs earn and have to do extra private work just to
support a family.  And there's way more to being a CAUT than tuning, as you
know.  It's just a lot to take on to add a thousand new ways of tuning to
our repertoire.

I tried an HT last semester for a rehearsal for a performance of a Haydn
piece using a fortepiano.  I didn't really know where to go to find out
which HT to use, so I consulted our Music Theory Prof, who is also our
historical keyboard specialist.  I didn't get the feeling he knew which
would be best either, but he suggested the Valotti, so that's what I used.
The piece was in D and Valotti is supposed to work in D.

Well, I later learned that the ensemble had a very difficult time with
intonation, and even had assumed that I hadn't had an opportunity to tune
the fp prior to their rehearsal (yeah, after about 4 passes on the tuning,
and honestly, it sounded horrible to me, too).  A discussion with the
cellist led me to believe that it might be fun to try it some time when
they've got time to play with it, but stick with ET.  That's what everybody
knows and is accustomed to.  He really made the HT idea sound more like a
novelty than a noteworthy pursuit.

A little further research led me to Dr. Jorgensen's book, in which the only
reference to Haydn's music was the Graupner Temperament of 1819.  My
recollection is that Graupner had been principal oboist in Haydn's
orchestra prior to publishing his temperament, and so Haydn's music was
writtem prior to 1819.  His temperament, however, would pass the RPT tuning
exam for ET with a perfect score!

So, maybe earlier composers works were not influenced by the temperaments
they had to work with than bound by them?  Perhaps Graupner understood
Haydn well enough to know what his music worked well with?

Now this argument that historical temperaments "sound better" is just a
little too much to swallow.  In what key do they sound better?  Wasn't the
discovery of theoretical ET a watershed which allows for total movement
throughout the keys without the ugly changes in intonation? (which some
refer to as "color")   And if your professors are telling you to just
"stick with ET"...

So, perhaps it is fear.  Perhaps it is ignorance, which I certainly admit.
But it looks to me like its exponentially larger than the proponents of
using HTs are trying to make it sound.  I just don't think it is as simple
as being able to offer the 14 temperaments installed on my SAT III.

If someone requests a temp other than ET, I'll be happy to do my best to
deliver.  But I feel like I've got way too many irons in the fire already
to try and become an expert in yet another field. And in the overall scheme
of life, it indeed is "only a piana."  I've got a life, and piano
maintenance is what supports it.  Not the other way around.

Perhaps I only speak for one, then again, maybe many.

Jeff

Jeff Tanner
Piano Technician
School of Music
813 Assembly ST
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
(803)-777-4392
jtanner@mozart.sc.edu