> Do modern composers chose to compose in ET, or if > they want to compose in one of the HTs do they specify which one? > > Larry Messerly, RPT > Prescott/Phoenix I don't think anyone composes in a temperament. They hear music in their head and write it down. That music sounds like instrumental music, I think, which has no temperament. If they are composing piano music they hear it in their head and choose the notes that come closest, no matter what the piano is tuned in. Some compositions are born from improvisation, and this perhaps can be influenced by temperament. Execpt for Pythagorean and Meantone, all the other HT's I have tried sound so much like ET I can't really hear the difference in playing or listening. Many of the "black keys" in Chopin for example sound "awful" in the traditional meantone. But I think from Bach to Chopin when writing or playing keyboard pieces in the "remote" keys they would hear "conflicts" in Meantone, so they must have had some other temperament to play in and listen to at least. The organs are presumed to have been in Meantone. Any organ pieces by Chopin? And who was the last composer to write for harpsichord? Chopin (1810-1849) surely played on the harpsichord? I mention this because the instrument (type of keyboard) itself influences the music much more than tempermant. imho. ---ric
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