On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 10:26 AM, Jeff Tanner <tannertuner at bellsouth.net>wrote: > > Some have suggested that to choose to not learn a bit about unequal > temperaments and their proper application is to unprofessional (my > wording). My thinking is the opposite: that to position oneself as an > authority with only a bit of knowledge is quite unprofessional. It seems to > me that having only a bit of knowledge on the subject we're discussing is > akin to knowing how to take off in an airplane, but not how to navigate > airspace or to land it and convincing passengers to get on an airplane with > you. > Jeff > ____________ Misunderstandings aside, what some have suggested here is that if you choose not to learn something about this you may be missing opportunities, but that is your business. We each have our own businesses/careers to run, within agreed upon professional guidelines. Let's please remember that ultimately these are very subtle differences in style, really. The point that needs to be made is that ultimately whatever historical relevance there may or may not be to any specific temperament- is secondary. I don't think anyone here has ever claimed that they are producing exactly what was on Chopin's, or Beethoven's pianos, for example. If so, that would be misleading and inaccurate. Did Peter Serkin try to claim that 1/7 comma is a precise historical and authentic tuning reproduction for his repertoire? Of course not. This is art. If any technique- historical or whatever- can not stand on it's own merit, then of what value is it anyway? Attempts at precise historical musical reproductions have never been main stream. What we are doing is tuning, and tailoring those tunings as best we can with our best judgement to the particular piano and usage at hand. If we disagree on technique, but we both have successful careers, please tell me how that matters. I think it's safe to say that everyone on this list probably started with the perspective of ET only tuning. Been there, done that. Think how popular remodeling home projects have been in earlier styles like American Arts & Crafts or Victorian. People are not looking for an exact historical replica of out dated 100 year old plumbing or appliances, are they? They are looking for the style. What we are able to provide can not be proven to be exactly authentic for any specific music, but certainly is closer to the spirit of the age than our technically perfect modern ET- if that is important. There are some valid points made regarding Jorgensen's work, and perhaps someone should him ask to comment. Additionally, I might have liked a little clearer acknowledgement that basically the entire premise of the Big Red Tuning book is taken from Alexander Ellis' appendix to his translation of Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone. Speaking only for myself however, I rather liked Jorgensen's neutral style of presenting these temperaments. It worked for me, but I respect the valid criticism. Anyone who is looking for a simple black and white formula on how to reproduce an "authentic" tuning for any situation, is going to be frustrated. Considering that, if one concludes it is better not to go there and stick with the status quo, fine. If someone else takes pleasure in that experience, this should be fine too. There really are only 2 kinds of tuning. That is good tuning and bad tuning. I'm here to say that what we are talking about, is all good. Dennis Johnson St. Olaf College -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut_ptg.org/attachments/20090308/9cebda92/attachment.html>
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