(careful, it is about temperaments)

[David Love]

One thing to consider in all this (and I've probably exhausted my thoughts)
is what the major pianist/scholars are doing in this respect.  Pianists like
Brendl, Schnabel, Perahia, and most of not virtually all others who pour
over original source material, biographies, writings, documents in order to
glean that small little detail that adds to their commitment to a more
authentic interpretation of the music as conceived by the composer.  Of all
these people it seems (and I say this with the caveat that I have not
actually done the research) that most if not all of them, when choosing to
record/perform, opt for ET.  While there may be a few who, to their credit,
are exploring these pieces in the temperaments of the times, they are a
stark minority.  To suggest that the leading interpreters of classical music
of the last century take such pains for authenticity while rejecting the, we
assume, prevailing tuning style of the times forces you to the conclusion
that they either consciously chose to reject it because it wasn't in their
view relevant to the music and authentic interpretation, or that they
are/were ignorant, biased or, as Bremmer suggests, did it for some strange
business reason.  Considering the extent to which they research these issues
and their apparent commitment to the original intent of the composers leads
me to the conclusion that the tuning style was rejected consciously and that
it was not relevant, in their view, to an authentic and musical
interpretation.  Who am I to argue?  If there is real evidence to the
contrary, I'm open to hearing it.    

David Love
davidlovepianos@comcast.net 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ric Brekne
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:48 AM
To: pianotech
Subject: (careful, it is about temperaments)

As to the matter of conclusive.... we of course agree.  I dont anyone 
can claim conclusive proof one way or the other either... not by a long 
shot.  That said, I /believe/ that composers were affected by the sounds 
around them... perfect pitch aware or not. I try to imagine my self in 
that same enviroment... could I not be influenced ? Could it not be a 
significant part of why I choose any particular key ?  Well... we will 
never know perhaps... I'm not sure it really matters much.  Certainly 
much in that world is there to be explored... if not re-explored.

Cheers
RicB

While I think the exploration of WT has it's own interest in terms of what
the composers of that day may have been hearing when they actually played
their works on the piano or related instrument, I think it is far from
conclusive that those who often conceived of and composed things away from
the instrument, with a keen sense of absolute pitch and the unique
characteristics of each key apart from the piano, with orchestration ever in
their minds would have been driven by tuning style that was evolving even
during their own lifetimes.        
_______________________________________________
Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives