Appropriate Historical Temperaments

[A440A@aol.com]

Ric writes:
<<    You are not supposed to listen to the G#--Eb "wolf fifth" or these
"wolf thirds" G#--C, F#--Bb, the C#--F, or the B--Eb.   When you
encounter them in music you arpegiate them (stacato) and DON'T use the
sustain pedal. <<

   hmm,  maybe mention that to Mozart!  

>>In Meantone you are supposed to listen to the C-E-G
and delight in the pure sounding triad impossible (so they say) on
keyboard instruments.  If you think that is heavenly, there are minors
that are absolutly ethereal.  "Amazing Grace" and Greensleaves" will
prove it.  I would love to hear it accompany singers.<< 

     This brings up a pertinent personal point.  I have had a number of 
meantone tunings scattered around in my environment over the last several 
years while we researched things for the CD.  I still can't get used to the 
sound.  The purity of the thirds starts to wear thin on me after about five 
minutes. That is one reason for the short Scarlatti intro with this tuning, 
to my 20th century ears it sounds like all icing and no cake.  Hence, my 
amazment at writers that prefer the Mozart in 1/4 comma,  not only is the 
wolf clangorous, the contrasts are gone. 
    Jazz is another thing entirely.  Using the Hawkes 1/6 comma in the house, 
we had a jazz friend over(he plays keyboards for a large-scale "country" 
group, but he also plays a lot of Baroque-Classical music, and lives for live 
jazz.  Under his hands, the meantone came alive and the wolves were no more 
than tonal developments of stuff he had begun long before getting to them.  
And he got to them all!  They were not wolves to him, but rather, strong 
resources,  and the sound was quite alluring. (Mozart DID NOT compose 
anything like what this guy was playing).     


>> Leave a few 1/4 comma Meantones  around and you might just start a
new folk song era.>>

    Actually, in Nashville, it was referred to as "the folk-scare of the 
'60's!   (Think session pickers in polyester leisure suits).  
   I recently tuned a pair of auto harps for a producer's recording session 
here.  One I tuned in  a 1/4 comma, thinking "Why not, the chord bars didn't 
play any of the wolf keys".   The other I tuned in a Kirnberger.  They asked 
that the meantone be retuned, not because it sounded out of tune to them, but 
because it sounded "dead".  
   I tuned it in a Young, slightly different from the Kirnberger.  They 
thought it sounded just fine, and until I pointed out the disparity between 
the two well temperaments, they thought both tunings were the same.  This 
tells me that the musicians ears sensed the change from ET to MT and didn't 
like it, even though their ears were not well enough attuned to tell the 
difference between two WT's.  
I don't know what relevance this may have for others here, but thought it an 
interesting perspective on how some non-et tunings are perceived. 
Thanks for the note, 
REgards, 
Ed Foote 
Vanderbilt