historical et (Long)

[Susan Kline]

><< The key word is EVOLUTION....  (snip)Tuning has been and is evolving.
>(Snip)
> 	The process of evolution goes on. Where do we want to go from  here?  
> Richard Moody >> 
> ----------
>  > Les --
>  > Clarity, new ideas, and a true pianist's viewpoint. 
>  > I had considered, on reading Stephen's post, that perhaps the music moved
>towards chromaticism _because_ the evolution of pianos and tuning made it
>possible.  Your ideas go much deeper,  and ring true.
> >  Thanks!
>  > Susan >>
>
>"Chromaticism" never has implied ET as a requirement.  This is only an
>assumption.
>To imply that tuning has "evolved" to the point where ET is the ultimate
>refinement, that it can go no further, is also merely an assumption.  It is
>what William Braid White, Helmholtz and others thought, and wanted, yes, but
>music did not necessarily take the path that they predicted.
>
>To remain locked in to the idea that piano tuning must only concentrate on
>refining ET severely limits the possibilities that the modern piano has.  It
>is a much more powerful and expressive instrument than its predecessors.  ET
>puts unnecessary and severe constraints on its potential.  If the art of
>tuning is to truly evolve, it must include the vast array of possiblilities
>that exist and the way that modern ETD's can help effect them with accuracy,
>consistency and efficiency.
>
>Yes, I certainly am not afraid of believing that which I choose to believe
and
>I certainly do not believe that ET is the end of the road.
>
>Bill Bremmer RPT
>Madison, Wisconsin
>
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Not to start another fight, Bill, but neither I nor (certainly!) Richard 
implied that ET was the _end_ of evolution! In fact, Richard asked "what
next?"

The future is yet to be written.

Meanwhile, ET gave good service to chromatic functional harmony, and
continues to do so. There is a _great_ deal more to functional harmony than
variation in tonal color! In fact, some (not all) types of functional
harmony work better when listeners (and pianists, as Les points out) are
not distracted by idiosyncracies in certain keys.

Just my take on it all ...

Susan





Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com		

"Relax! Between the inconceivably big and the inconceivably
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