> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:47:03 -0500 "Ed Sutton" <ed440 at mindspring.com> wrote: > Fred- > I wasn't claiming retuning for every piece. > I was just suggesting that perhaps Bach was practical in a professional way, > and that if we had a daily tuning record we might find that he didn't tune > his instruments exactly the same in a dogmatic Bach WT, but was satisfied > when things were good for what was needed. Ed, I still would have to greet your conjecture with a great deal of skepticism, simply because - busy fellow that he was - I doubt that Bach could know on any given day "what (would be) needed". First as Kapellmeister at several courts, then as Cantor at Leipzig (municipal employee!!!) he was expected (routinely) to compose music for upcoming occasions, rehearse orchestras and ensembles (most often from the keyboard, while playing continuo), practice music for upcoming performances - or at least read through it (luckily he wrote it!) and teach lots of lessons. Then there was the matter of auditioning and hiring musicians (and paying them), seeing to the purchase, repair and maintenance of instruments, arrange for the copying of orchestral parts - and the other administrative duties of his positions. Then, of course there were the needs of his own children (lots of them, from 2 wives - serially of course...) Let's not even talk about performances - dinners, receptions, religious serv ices, public occasions, etc. Then again, the harpsichord was his working instrument (when he wasn't playing an organ, that is) but I have seen it mentioned in several places that when playing for his own edification (hard to believe that he actually had time for that - but I suppose he made time) J.S. was actually quite partial to the clavichord... So I sort of doubt it that in a busy, hectic life like this, J.S. got up every morning, ate his breakfast and then, while sitting down to his labors, would think "let's see what am I going to be playing today - I think I'll tune the harpsichord this way". It is much more likely that he tuned it in some sort of circulating temperament that would work for anything that his hectic day might demand of him - and of course it is quite likely that he didn't fuss too much about getting precisely the same exact tuning every day (like we do) - but anything that had the general properties he found serviceable would do... I just don't think it could have been quite as deliberate and targeted to specific music as your conjecture suggests. Israel Stein > I don't see how we'll ever know. > I eschew dogmatic responses of all casts, and tune to please. > Ed S. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu> > To: "caut University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org> > Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 7:16 PM > Subject: Re: [CAUT] Speaking of Bach (was: temperament for Schubert) > > > > Hi Ed, > > Anita Sullivan wrote a letter that was published in PTJ expressing that > > thought, or actually a more extreme version, with Bach switching MT > > centers for each piece. I think it is erroneous. There is ample evidence > > that JS Bach strongly favored and advocated for circulating temperament. > > His compositional style demands it. Though his suites and other various > > multi-movement works were in a single key, this was a reflection of the > > time: everyone did it that way. It was part of the aesthetic, having to > > do with the "humors" (one of the words used) as in choleric, phlegmatic, > > etc. In music one was supposed to do just one at a time. (Medicine was > > based on the same theory, with the various liquids of the body connected > > to this.) > > In any event, Bach, like Schubert later, loved to move around A LOT in > > key, within individual pieces, often to very remote keys (compared to > > most other composers of his time). Check out his b minor flute sonata for > > some of the extremes. This became a real problem when playing organs, > > whose tuning was not easily adjusted. Most organs were (had been) mean > > tone, and at least one of Werckmeister's tunings was a quick way to > > change from MT to a tolerable circulating temperament, but changing the > > tuning of only a couple pipes per rank. > > The anecdote has him tuning not before every piece, but once a day. Very > > quickly. Surely he didn't decide, "Today's the day for E minor" and > > completely adjust his instrument for that. In any case, I can't digest > > the notion, and I think you will find that scholars of tuning are > > unanimous in saying that Bach was a WT guy, not a MT guy, though they > > fight to the death about the details. The whole purpose of WT is that, as > > CPE wrote, "All keys are equally good." Why would you do a variable WT? > > Doesn't make any sense to me. > > BTW, I have raised the question of "variable MT" (ie, changing it for > > different keys) with performance practice folks, and the response I have > > got is that there is no evidence that anyone did other than one version > > of MT, with G# rather than A flat I believe. FWIW. Lack of evidence > > doesn't disprove, but it is suggestive that nobody mentions re-tuning for > > a new key. > > Regards, > > Fred Sturm > > University of New Mexico > > fssturm at unm.edu > > > > > > > > On Jan 18, 2009, at 2:00 PM, Ed Sutton wrote: > > > >> Fred, let me toss in another speculation about Father Bach. > >> When we look at the suites and partitas, and the Goldberg variations, we > >> see that, like other Baroque composers, Bach was content to play in one > >> key for a very long time. When I combine this with the comment that he > >> tuned the harpsichord when he sat down to play, it seems conceivable > >> that, knowing, say, that he intended to play in G major, he did his > >> quick tuning, making sure that the G related harmonies were good, and > >> didn't worry too much about refining F# or C# triads. As a practical > >> musician of his day, he would have known all the tricks for getting > >> things done quickly. (Anyone who plays harpsichord knows some of these > >> tricks.) When he really intended to play through the circle of keys, he > >> might have given more care to the extreme keys. Despite the connection > >> with the WTC and extreme keys, most of Bach's music is written in the > >> common Meantone keys, and does not need to make it around the circle of > >> fifths. What he did in improvisation is, I suppose, mostly lost to us. > >> > >> Ed Sutton > > > > > >
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