In a message dated 11/2/01 12:48:30 PM, A440A@AOL.COM writes: << So, Tom labels me with "inflated self-important, arrogant, ludicrous", etc. Gee, this is lightweight stuff, I have been called much worse, even by smart people. >> Sorry. I should have "tempered" my comments; I'll overlook the reference to my intelligence, or lack thereof. I deserve it for stepping over the line of appropriate civility. <<The desperate attempts to hold temperament awareness back are becoming comical,>> Please, call me stupid, but don't categorize me as someone attempting to hold back "temperament awareness." I didn't view this discussions as pro-HT/WT or anti-HT/WT, etc. I, myself, am only presently becoming aware of other temperament options *for the piano*. Only two weeks ago I tuned my first Equal Beating Victorian Temperament *on a piano*, and I absolutely love the sound of it. I posted comments on the list to that effect. Maybe it's just the new toy, but right now I would say that I prefer it to ET *on a piano*, at least in certain applications (like my piano at home). I agree, the colors of the different keys *on the piano* are striking. No, I think that HST have a place in the 20th century *piano*. I highlight the word *piano* only because that is where temperaments exist, not on the orchestral stage. It's the discussion of orchestral works (which are not performed in ET, WT, or HT, and never were, or never will be) that have prompted me to try to correct wayward thinking. My point of view is that the great masters were able to view the entire composition process from above. Way above the manner in which you or I think about music or composition. And from that view point they would not be so narrow-minded as to write an orchestral piece (which was not, is not, and never will be performed in ET, WT, or any HT you can come up with) with any harmonic restrictions that the HT of their day would impose upon them. If they wrote it in D, it's because they wanted it in D. Tom Sivak
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