Greetings Tom Cole I would like to use your words to direct attention to a problem regardng historical temperaments. (HT) that has not yet been addressed. " a well-chosen and well-executed HT tuning might very well enhance a composition, considering, that it was written with the temperament, [and] used by that composer, in mind." What were these temperaments the composers had in mind? If they did compose for them or in them, why aren't they ever mentioned. If temperaments did make such a difference to the music, why didn't composers specify which temperaments? Consider Bach and his Well Tempered Clavier. (WTC). If it was so important for it to be well tempered why did he not include tuning instructions, or at least refer to the tuning system he composed and played WTC in? Since we are pretty sure he tuned for himself, he would have had first hand information on how to tune, and thus easy for him to write a few instructions, yet he makes no mention of it in WTC or any else as far as known. This brings us to the sentiment of wanting to hear the music as the composer heard it, on the instrument of his period, and if keyboard, the tuning used. We really don't know what the composers used. According to Owens and Kellner, there appear to have been numerous tuning systems in the Classical era. What we don't know is who preferred what, or who wrote what pieces for which temperament. Maybe Bach meant by "Well Tempered" ... "not hap-hazard". Richard Moody I ---------- > From: Tom Cole <tcole@cruzio.com> > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Subject: Re: Temperaments > Date: Friday, January 30, 1998 1:09 AM > Material snipped...... > Today, I heard, for the first time in a long time, a CD of Benjamin > Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings" (recorded 1944). {... } > The instrument should be transparent to the music. An ill-chosen > temperament would detract from a performance but a well-chosen and > well-executed HT tuning might very well enhance a composition, > considering, for example, that it was written with the temperament, used > by that composer, in mind. You might even say that the piece and the > temperament are integral. Of course, that same logic could be applied to > works written since ET. Do we now need pianos with temperament-changing > pedals, like a concert harp? How do you choose a temperament? I've got > 57 programmed into my machine and I'm confused. > -- > Thomas A. Cole, RPT > Santa Cruz, CA
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