OFF (*was: neurology)

[Susan Kline]

At 11:35 AM 5/5/2002 -0400, Ed wrote:
>         Of the 68 major piano compositions by Beethoven, I think there is 
> one
>each in F# , Db and B.  There are 12 in G, 8 in C, 7 in Bb, 15 in Eb, etc.
>In total, there are 44 pieces in keys with more consonance (in any plausible
>WT of his era) than ET,  so where did this bias come from?  If you include Eb
>(which is in the middle of the circle of fifths)  then 57 of his piano
>compositions are in keys that fall in the category of "same or  better
>consonance" than ET.  Why??
>        A similar comparison of Schubert shows the same preponderance toward
>the simpler keys.    Mozart also has same bias toward the keys with fewer
>accidentals.  Why?  if all the keys were tempered alike Bach then, then why
>is there such a dearth of pieces in the  keys farthest from C ?  Seems that a
>widespread use of ET would have been indicated by a more democratic
>employment of the keys.

I'm not contradicting what you are saying here, but I can point out a couple
of other issues which might affect choice of keys:

1. At the time of Beethoven and Schubert, music was FINALLY being published
for the general public. Many of them would have trouble with a lot of sharps
or flats. Simpler keys might have been chosen to appeal to the public more.

2. Slightly later, Chopin chose keys with lots of accidentals, because playing
on the black keys is technically easier. So, the growth of technically
difficult music may have affected the choice of keys, but away rather than
toward the distant keys.

If more music was being written in distant keys, it may have helped along
the process toward mild Wells and "quasi-ET's".

Susan Kline