Appropriate Historical Temperaments

Avery Todd atodd@UH.EDU
Fri May 25 12:28 MDT 2001


Geoffrey, Lawrence and list,

By "unstretched", does that mean these deviations should not be used
over a regular FAC tuning when using a SAT III?

I have an unstretched tuning saved in memory that I usually use for my
harpsichord tunings and then just use the offsets for whatever temperament
I'm using.

>>If you have some kind of ETD  here are the cent deviations from
>>unstretched, equal temperament ie.100 cents/semitone:
>>A,  Bb, B,  C,  C#, D,  Eb, E,  F,   F#,  G,  G#,  A
>>0, +7, -6, +9, -2, +3, +2, -3, +12, -4,  +6, -1,   0
>>
>>Geoffrey Pollard
>>Sydney Conservatorium of Music
>>Sydney, Australia

That brings me to a question for Lawrence. Have you ever used the Prinz HT?
I used it last December, on Owen's advice, for a Messiah performance and
an all-Vivaldi Choral concert. I've used it for The Marriage of Figaro and
several recitals when appropriate for the time period. Always harpsichord,
though. Not piano. Everyone seems to like it. The primary harpsichordist
likes it and it's become the default for general use, unless something like
a Meantone is called for.

The only time I've actually used a Young was for a Mozart Piano Concerto
a couple of years ago. That was my first "delving" into HT's and I had to
do a lot of convincing even to get the pianist to try it. Worked though,
and by the time the concert was over, she really liked it for the Mozart.
Didn't like it much for Chopin and some later composers on her studio
piano, though. :-)

>Thanks, Geoffrey.  I decided to try this Temperament Ordinaire, and just
>went out and did it!  Certainly a different sound, elegant, with quite a
>lively character around C#.  Haven't heard back from the students in the
>ensemble (or their professor) yet.

I'd also like to try it but would liked to have an answer to my first
question before I do. We're having a French guest pianist, Anne Queffelec,
this summer playing the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No.2 in G. Anyone ever
work with her?

>Trying these temperaments is fun!  Thanks for the responses.

Agreed.

Avery

>----------------------------------
>Lawrence Becker, RPT
>Piano Technician
>College-Conservatory of Music
>University of Cincinnati
>----------------------------------

Avery Todd
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4071
713-743-3226


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