[CAUT] temperament for Schubert

[Fred Sturm]

	Young or Valotti would certainly show off the differences in key  
color. And Schubert liked "enharmonic modulation" so this can make it  
particularly piquant.
	The historical question - what would be historically appropriate - is  
a tough one. At a guess, one of Neidhardt's or Peter Prelleur's would  
be more plausible. It isn't clear that Valotti's or Young's  
temperaments were widely known and used (they vary only in being  
offset by a 5th from one another). And they were Italian and English,  
respectively, so one might expect them to be more regional in nature  
(their publication wasn't widely disseminated to the best of my  
knowledge). What actual piano tuners (or pianists tuning their own)  
were doing is really anyone's guess. They probably learned from others  
and didn't read the theoretical treatises.
	Another possibility is the Lehman Bach temperament, which would be  
less pungent but still provide key color. Or Broadwood's Best #4. Or  
one of Jim Coleman's (though that obviously wouldn't be strictly  
"historically accurate" though his temperaments are generally in  
accordance with the same principles).
	BTW, for an interesting article on temperament, dealing with Valotti  
and Young, see http://music.case.edu/duffin/Vallotti/default.html  
which has the article Why I hate Valotti (or is it Young?) by Ross  
Duffin, director of early music at Case Western. His bias is towards  
1/6 comma meantone, and he is writing from the point of view of  
ensemble and Baroque, so it doesn't apply directly. Still, some  
interesting background. And it goes into why it might be more  
difficult for other instrumentalists to play in tune with Valotti or  
Young - quite interesting, especially with respect to the fingerboards  
of strings. He has also published a book recently, How Equal  
Temperament Ruined Harmony, published by Norton. Aimed at a general  
audience, but it has some useful technical details and explains the  
whole issue of temperament very clearly.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu



On Jan 9, 2009, at 10:03 AM, Porritt, David wrote:

> Alan:
>
> I am particularly fond of the Thomas Young #1 temperament and that  
> is what I always use for the harpsichords here.  It is very  
> symmetrical and all keys are usable though when you’re in B, F# or  
> Db  you’ll be aware that you are in a distant key.  It was published  
> in 1799 so was surely in pretty wide use during Schubert’s time.   
> Try it, I think you’ll like it.  If you want to hear ET again, just  
> play in Eb  or A.
>
> dave
>
> David M. Porritt, RPT
> dporritt at smu.edu
>
> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf  
> Of reggaepass at aol.com
> Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 10:52 AM
> To: caut at ptg.org
> Subject: [CAUT] temperament for Schubert
>
> I am just starting to explore the wonderful world of historical  
> temperaments.  My wife is preparing a recital of chamber music and  
> song by Franz Schubert.  What temperament(s) would be appropriate  
> for this music?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Alan Eder
>
> Get a free MP3 every day with the Spinner.com toolbar. Get It Now.

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