Bach and Equal temperament, or Bach and Well temperament?

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  Vinny  writes:

<< First of all, Could someone tell me what is well-temperament? 

     A well tempered keyboard has no wolf intervals, and all keys are usable. 
 There is a harmonic order to the amount of tempering in the intervals.  The 
order is evident in the tonic thirds of the keys as you modulate by fifths.  
This means that the key of C, with no accidentals, has the most purely tuned 
C-E third, and the key of F# has the most highly tempered thirds.  The fifths 
work in the opposite direction, so that the key with the most highly tempered 
thirds has the purest fifts.  
    CPE Bach is on record as saying that his father didn't approve of equal 
temperament, which is very interesting, since there is no historical evidence 
of how ET may have been achieved until you get to the earl 1800's, and even 
then, it is pretty sketchy.  Given the emphasis on tonality that music 
displayed between Bach and Brahms,  it is a real stretch to believe that 
tuners of the time would seek out the most difficult, least appreciated, 
atonal tuning system possible.  
   Another reason to consider nonET tunings may be found if you listen to 
Bach or Beethoven, or Schubert, or anybody else's compositions from between 
1700 and 1885 on two pianos that have been tuned in ET and any of the 
documented unequal temperaments of the time.  The added complexity from the 
nonET tunings will demonstrate a different dimension to this music,  and then 
one can draw some value judgements for themself.  
    This topic has been debated for two hundred years,  I don't think it will 
stop.  You will get several perspectives on this list.  I suggest that you 
follow your ears with an open mind, and not blindly accept other's angles on 
this.  
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT   





and
Secondly, could you tell me hhow you know that Bach did not tune
in equal temperament.
     

"The only vague testimony we have on the subject comes from his
obituary written by his son C.P.E. Bach, and his pupil J.F.
Agricola.  where it states that in the tuning of harpsichords he
achieved so correct and pure a temperament that all the keys
sounded pure and agreable.  He knew no keys which because  of
impure intonation, one must avoid"

Now, that is all I have ever seen on this subject. 
     Since I want to teach my students correctly, if any of you
have more insite and information on this subject, i would love to
hear from you.  
     Because I only have access to the internet through e-mail,
since I live in a remote location, I can't browse or download
from the net. >>