Appropriate Historical Temperaments

[A440A@aol.com]

Greetings, 
Ted writes inre1/4 comma meantone   
<<  <snip> 
Has it occured to many

people that its underlying philosophy has much in common with equal

temperament, as the 'usable' keys are all alike, so key color is not really

an issue, compared to the just major thirds and slow beating major sixths.<<

   I fear not.  It hasn't occurred to many people that 1/4 comma exists, much 
less its particular qualities.  Among the musicians I have both banged heads 
and agreed with, much knowledge of 1/4 C seems restricted to its, um... 
restriction.  The wolf is the most easily discerned feature and often signals 
the end of serious consideration of the tuning's use.
  I personally think an understanding of1/4C should be had at the earliest 
stages of a pianist's training.  Unfortunately, we often only get a chance  
to open the door a little just as they finish their schooling, ( thus the 
need for a really focussed course for piano majors).  I am going to try to 
develope this further at Vanderbilt, but faculties are often a  bit unsettled 
by talk of changing any intonational parameters, so I proceed caut iously . 
    Many techs do recognize the smoothness of the thirds, but here it seems 
like a strange familiarity shows itself.  As Ted points out, the "sameness" 
of the keys in MT is not dissimilar to the "sameness" found in ET. That the 
one has thirds of 0 tempering and the other wide by 13.7 is profound once 
pointed out, but the lack of tonal change between keys is a familiar concept. 
     That was the reasoning for following our MT with a fairly strong WT on 
the 6Degree recording.  I was hoping to present tempering in an attractive  
way, so we kept the same key (D) for the first two pieces.  After the MT 
Scarlatti, the opening chord of the Mozart makes the beating as evident as I 
could imagine.  
      I think the sameness in the thirds contributes to a sedative sound, and 
much baroque music seems sedative to me. 

 >>I must confess to some mystification also to the idea of 1/7th. comma

meantone. Surely there can be no such thing, as meantone has always meant

the division of the just major third into two (mean)tones rather than the

major tone with a ratio of 8:9 and the minor tone ratio of 9:10 which added

together comprise the just major third. >>

     I have assumed that the designation came from the wolfish nature of the 
1/6, 1/7,etc.  Back to that strongest distinguishing feature thing, perhaps.  
The case can be made that reducing the wolf from 41 to 31  and finally around 
28 cents increases the utility of the notes in passing, though they still 
sound harsh in vertical constructions.   I don't know enough about the 
history of music's evolution during this particular time, but would like to 
hear more 1650-1720 keyboard music in the the various versions of meantones 
that have been published. Perhaps their utility would reveal itself if it 
could be found that music was "improved" by one or another.  
Regards, 
Ed Foote 
Vanderbilt
  (I was fortunate to take a one day car trip up through Banff area last fall 
to Lake Louise, and how anybody can get any work done amidst scenery like 
that is beyond me!)