Fred wrote: --- big snip --- I'll also note that there isn't a lot of historical written evidence for the notion of key color variants based on size of thirds, as an aesthetic consideration when composing. It seems to me that this notion is largely a 20th century extrapolation. Not that it is entirely without basis, but just that the direct evidence that composers thought in that way is slim to none. If you can point me to some, I would be grateful. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu Fred: I don't think most composers view their job as a big Theory assignment when they write. They change keys to new keys that give them the sound they're looking for at that juncture with probably no conscious awareness of the width of the thirds, just that new key gives them the sound they want. Most of them had some version of non-equal temperament on their pianos and this was what got them to the keys they wanted at the time. It doesn't have to be a mean tone to give a different sound. The Coleman 11 that Ed mentioned is very mild yet will give different sounds in different keys that a composer would exploit. dp David M. Porritt, RPT dporritt at smu.edu
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