[CAUT] FW: S&S Guidelines

[Fred Sturm]

On May 8, 2008, at 12:45 AM, Horace Greeley wrote:

> I think the only thing I would add would be that it is often the  
> second-chair wind players who drive up pitch the most (and the most  
> quickly).  More competent composers than myself may wish to chime in  
> on this, but I think that part of it has to do with them so often  
> winding up in first or second inversion.  This is most noticeable  
> with clarinets and bassoons, though also often found in second and  
> fourth horns.  Many modern orchestras do not even have a pitch  
> center, themselves, so, it is often hard to tell what to do without  
> some experience with the group.

Hi Horace,
	This gets into the realm of fixed pitch versus varying pitch, I  
think. Winds and strings and voice adapt pitch to harmony, and do so  
consciously (how successfully depends on skill and how fast the music  
is moving). I have discussed this with some musicians who more or less  
specialize in this area, asking some tough questions, and they tell me  
that the root of any chord will tend to be "as in ET" but the third  
will be bent to be beatless (or approach beatless), meaning that in a  
major chord they go flat, minor they go sharp. This is what they teach  
people to do in "blending" their sound.
	Now that sounds great, if well done, in the string quartet or wind  
quintet or a capella choir or whatever, but add the piano and, well,  
compromises have to be made. Or not <G>. But the bottom line is that  
the piano and the orchestra are pretty diverse animals when it comes  
to intonation. We tend to sneer at orchestras for not being as precise  
as we are, but I think there is much more to it than that. (Of course,  
there are various levels of skill, but that is a different matter).

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu