Lawrence writes: <<This week I have to prepare a harpsichord to accompany a Vivaldi violin piece, and am wondering if anyone has suggestions for an appropriate temperament. And, generally, I'm interested in how people who use HTs pick them. Thanks. >> Greetings, At Vanderbilt, the harpsichord stays in a Young temperament, unless there is something particularly modern which calls for perhaps a Victorian. The difference between these two is that the most highly tempered thirds in the Young are 19 and 21 cents wide, whereas in the Victorian style, these would be no more than 16 or 17 cents. It is all a matter of degree. If there is early, ie baroque music to be played, a Kirnberger gives the meantone arrangement of the white keys, and a lot of "color" in any key with more than 4 accidentals in the signature. Meantone tuning on the harpsichord is discouraged, since the amount of movement asked of the strings tends to shorten their life, and it seems to my ear that by the time the strings are let down far enough for say, a G#, they have moved below their best tension. This leads me to believe that an instrument needs to be scaled for the expected tuning when it comes to meantone vs. any of the others. Jorgensen's book also provides a number of modified meantone tunings that sound great on the harpsichord. Good luck., Ed Foote Vanderbilt
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC