[CAUT] temperament for Schubert

[Fred Sturm]

On Jan 12, 2009, at 9:38 AM, reggaepass at aol.com wrote:

> As I begin to delve into historical tunings, based on a cursory  
> initial glance, it appears that Hummel might have been used by  
> Schubert, not only because the dates are close enough, but because  
> Hummel was such a highly regarded pianist and composer who worked in  
> Schubert's Vienna.  What is it, then, that would make Neidhardt's or  
> Peter Prelleur's temperament's likely candidates?


	Hummel didn't actually "have a temperament." He simply provided  
tuning instructions in his treatise on playing the piano, and they are  
essentially nothing but a circle of 5ths. (The only thing that stands  
out is his use of an A fork as a starting point instead of C). The  
intention was essentially equal temperament. Certainly a tuning called  
"Hummel" would have more of an historical connection, much closer in  
time and place to Schubert (Neidhardt was 1732). But it seems to me  
like a waste of time to bother putting Jorgensen's emulation of  
Hummel's instructions on a piano, as it will sound like ET to  
virtually anyone. Unless you play through a bunch of interval  
sequences slowly, you won't be able to distinguish it - try it, maybe  
your ear is that acute. Mine isn't.
	I suggested Neidhardt because he was German and quite influential in  
the German speaking world. I think it likely that at least some of his  
tuning notions penetrated into the practical world, and, given the  
rather conservative tendencies of craftsmen, might well have lasted  
into Schubert's time. As evidence of this notion, we have Broadwood  
Best #4, a measurement by Ellis in the 1890s of a tuning supposedly  
done in equal temperament by one of Broadwood's best tuners, but which  
was actually a pretty strongly flavored well temperament. It is also  
instructive that Young's temperament was published around 1799, so the  
notion of temperament with considerable inequality was still in the  
air in the years just prior to Schubert.
	The fact is, we have only a vague idea what individual people did in  
a practical sense. We can only speculate based on a very diverse and  
contradictory set of evidence. I don't think  there is any real way of  
connecting - securely, with very rare exceptions - any specific tuning  
to any specific composer with much credibility (though it might make  
sense to choose ET for Hummel - but who cares <G>). I'll note also  
that we don't have a very good idea of how the theory - the way people  
described their tunings - translated into practice. I suspect there  
was a great deal of variation.
	Bottom line, a fairly standard circulating unequal temperament will  
be the best bet, to do something that will make a musical difference.  
More piquant, less piquant as a matter of taste. It makes a good  
story, and good press, to put a name on it, and make as close a  
historical connection as possible, but I'm not sure how much musical  
difference it will make. A historical case can be made either way:  
Schubert in ET (or quasi-ET) or in a WT.
	If you have time, experiment for various rehearsals, and see what the  
performers have to say. I'd love to hear about the results.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu