I just found this, which confirms the Goebbels connection <http://groups.msn.com/Todakcrew/musicarticles.msnw>: The first effort to institutionalize A=440 in fact was a conference organized by Joseph Goebbels in 1939, who had standardized A=440 as the official German pitch. Professor Robert Dussaut of the National Conservatory of Paris told the French press that: ``By September 1938, the Accoustic Committee of Radio Berlin requested the British Standard Association to organize a congress in London to adopt internationally the German Radio tuning of 440 periods. This congress did in fact occur in London, a very short time before the war, in May-June 1939. No French composer was invited. The decision to raise the pitch was thus taken without consulting French musicians, and against their will.'' The Anglo-Nazi agreement, given the outbreak of war, did not last, so that still A=440 did not stick as a standard pitch. A second congress in London of the International Standardizing Organization met in October 1953, to again attempt to impose A=440 internationally. This conference passed such a resolution; again no Continental musicians who opposed the rise in pitch were invited, and the resolution was widely ignored. Professor Dussaut of the Paris Conservatory wrote that British instrument makers catering to the U.S. jazz trade, which played at A=440 and above, had demanded the higher pitch, ``and it is shocking to me that our orchestra members and singers should thus be dependent upon jazz players.'' A referendum by Professor Dussaut of 23,000 French musicians voted overwhelmingly for A=432. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico On 4/27/05 1:20 PM, "Ed Sutton" <ed440@mindspring.com> wrote: > According to Lyndon LaRouche, the 1939 conference was called by Joseph > Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda. The result is that our music is no > longer in tune with the natural resonances of the solar system. This > happens at A-432hz., which is the true interplanetary standard pitch. > > (Yes this is the same LaRouche who runs for president and claims the World > Trade Center attack was carried out by the Israeli army. Perhaps he is > right about the Goebbels part.) > > ES > > >> [Original Message] >> From: Fred Sturm <fssturm@unm.edu> >> To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org> >> Date: 4/27/2005 2:20:03 PM >> Subject: Re: [CAUT] International standard? >> >> I checked my bookshelf and found in McFerrin's The Piano - Its Acoustics > the >> following (p 152): "The pitch that has become standard is 440 Hz at 68 >> degrees Farenheit for A-49. This standard was chosen as the official pitch >> to be recommended by the American Federation of Musicians in 1917. It was >> adopted by the US government in 1920, by the Associated Music Industries > in >> 1925, and by the International Conference on Pitch in London in 1939." >> Doesn't say anything about that conference - who attended, what >> countries were represented, etc. But I guess maybe 440 is law in the USA, > if >> this quote is to be believed. Nothing mentioned about a treaty. I'd guess >> the PTG written test is a wee bit inaccurate in its answer to that > question. >> Somebody interpreted "conference" as "treaty." >> Regards, >> Fred Sturm >> University of New Mexico >> >> >> >> >> On 4/27/05 12:10 PM, "Fred Sturm" <fssturm@unm.edu> wrote: >>> >>> Which, of course, raises the question "What international treaty?" (the >>> question Alan asked originally). I have never been able to find any >>> specifics, and nobody I have asked has been able to point me to any. >>> References in Swenson's article and elsewhere refer to it as an >>> international conference, which could mean any number of things >>> (musicologists? manufacturers?) Is this just a kind of popular belief > among >>> our membership (the international treaty statement), or is it true? In > which >>> case, is there some kind of documentation somewhere? Do any piano > technician >>> journals span that period around 1939? Anyone have access to them if > they >>> do? >>> Regards, >>> Fred Sturm >>> University of New Mexico >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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