6 degree liner notes, (sorta long)

[Richard Moody]

Ed Foote wrote.....
>Mozart's Phantasie in Dm perfomed in
> Meantone, Well, and Equal temperament.
>     Yes,  I am trying to make a case here, and I certainly enjoy the
>rigor that can be found in debate amongst us tuners(Moody, you
>listening?).

ZZzzz zzsssnozzesaspzsorTt!    huh?  YES  .... isn't that the one with
one b ?
I must have heard it but can't say which one it is.  I certainly would
like to hear anything in Dm in Meantone.   I hope you mean 1/4 comma.
The other meantones are just theoretical exercises that were probably
never tuned in practice.    Well now (today) with ETD's.... I
suppose...it is possible... but if never tuned before, so what?
    You said there was debate amongst us tuners.   I think the real
debate should be among the performers, music historians,
musicologists, the listeners, the critics...in that order, as far as
"what temperament is appropariate"
    The debate among us tuners should be as always, "Is this a good
Quarter Comma Meantone" , just as it is, "Is this a decent ET?"  We
are the only authorities on the accuracy of the tuning.

    One other aspect of "historical temperaments" might be considered
and that is today is the first time in musical history that various
temperaments can be compared side by side.  In the past we know
various temperaments were known or at least proposed in theory, but
how many of these or which ones were actually requested by composers
or performers to be tuned?  The historical evicence  as regarded and
recognised by academia is scant if at all.
    But all that aside,  --- "What does it sound like?"  Thanks to Ed
Foote's recordings we can cut to the chase and hear for ourselves.
For technicians experimenting in the various historical temperaments,
those who play have been rewarded already.  For the rest of us we must
listen to performances and recordings to hear the differences..
    Even on the intermediate playing level the world of temperaments
is wide open for exploration.  Tune a piano in 1/4 comman meantone and
play the carols, hymns, folk tunes, the student classical pieces in C,
F, and G; Am, Dm, and Em and you will hear a "new" and charming
tonality you have never heard before.
    So much for 1/4 comma MT.   Other than Pythagorean (pure fifths)
the rest you can't hear the difference.  Thus the debate.     ---ric


----- Original Message -----
From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 9:08 PM
Subject: 6 degree liner notes, (sorta long)


> Greetings all,
>The CD
> is "Six Degrees Of Tonality" , There are
> six pieces in six tunings, plus Mozart's Phantasie in Dm perfomed on
> Meantone, Well, and Equal temperament.
>     Yes,  I am trying to make a case here, and I certainly enjoy the
rigor
> that can be found in debate amongst us tuners(Moody, you
listening?).  That
> is one reason that we included three versions of Mozart, so there
would be a
> direct comparison we can talk about inre the three major styles of
tempering.
...........