Ravel, Kawai & 1/7 Comma Meantone

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

Dear List,

Saturday night, April 8, the French pianist, Désiré N'Kaoua continued his 
series, this time on a brand new Kawai 9 foot concert grand again tuned in 
1/7 Comma Meantone.  The title of his recital was written in French in the 
program:  "L'Intégrale de L'Oeuvre pour Piano Seul de Ravel" meaning "The 
Complete Works of Ravel for Solo Piano".

That's right, the artist gave a 3 hour concert (plus a 1/2 hour intermission) 
in which he played all of Ravel's works for piano in 1/7 Comma Meantone.  The 
temperament gave the piano and the music an entirely different perspective 
from that produced by Equal Temperament (ET).  It was all positive though, 
never once did I hear any chord or phrase which sounded inappropriate.

The 1/7 Comma Meantone Temperament (1/7MTT) was invented by a Frenchman, Jean 
Baptiste Romieu in 1758.  It is one oof the Equal Beating (EB) Temperaments.  
It has the same EB properties that I used when constructing the Equal Beating 
Victorian Temperament (EBVT) that I most often use.  In fact, the EBVT can be 
properly defined as a 1/8 Comma Modified Meantone Temperament.

The EB properties of both 1/7 and 1/8 Comma meantone (and Modified Meantone) 
Temperaments cause close harmony played in the simple keys (with 0-3 sharps 
or flats) to sound much purer than they really are.  This also permits the 
remote keys (with 4-6 sharps or flats) to sound less harshly than they do in 
many other Meantone or Well Temperaments.  This makes the temperament useful 
for virtually any type of music, the way only ET is thought to be.

The 1/7CMTT does have a "Wolf" key (Ab) but it does not really qualify as a 
"Wolf" by the accepted definition of that term.  It is an 8 cent wide 5th.  
While it does sound just a bit dissonant when played by itself, it actually 
is absorbed or "swallowed" in any typical musical context.  In other words, 
you don't really hear it. What you do hear is a powerful, "electrifying" 
resonance in the key of Ab.

Mr. Tim Farley RPT, the host of the event feels that so many French Romantic 
composers wrote in the key of Ab because they wanted and expected to hear 
that especially powerful sound from that key.  This sound can only be heard 
if the temperament is a true Meantone.  It does make sense to me that if 
Romieu invented this temperament in the middle of the 18th Century, it may 
have still been in use 100-150 years later.

Now, I do hear repeatedly that Chopin, Debussy and Ravel all "require" ET and 
have certainly never heard a piano tuned in 1/7CMTT anywhere but in Madison 
(with the exception of the time I tuned it at the Albuquerque Convention in 
1995).  But when I think of Helmholtz reasoning and Dr. William Braid White's 
teaching (the foundation for the current exclusive use of ET), I find that to 
say that only ET is right for this music is at least as far fetched as you 
might say Mr. Farley's reasoning is.

After hearing 3 hours of Ravel in 1/7CMTT, I would never care to listen to 
Ravel in ET again.

If the very name of the temperament scares you, just remember that ET may 
also be defined as a 1/11 Syntonic Comma Meantone Temperament.  In order to 
tune it properly, you must temper each 5th of the Cycle of 5ths by exactly 
1/11 of 21.5.  That is, theoretically speaking, of course.  Inharmonicity 
changes that 1/11 value by an unknown amount which is your problem to solve.  
Tuning any Equal Beating Historical Temperament (HT) is much easier by far. 

>From the point of view of the 1/4 Syntonic Comma Meantone Temperament 
(1/4SCMTT) typically used in the Baroque period, the 1/7 and 1/8 Syntonic 
Comma Meantone and Modified Meantone Temperaments are much closer to ET's 
1/11 Syntonic Comma than you might realize until you begin to work with and 
experience it.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin