What's the big deal?

[BobDavis88@aol.com]

Thanks for the reply, Susan:

>Cultural differences and individual aptitudes may matter. [snip]
>It's only a step further to hearing that a whole phrase
>  or section of a piece has changed center.  Well, perhaps that _is_ what you
>  meant by "well-versed."

It is. I think it's a matter of degree. While many can recognize V7 - I as
being some kind of final thing, it takes more familiarity with musical
language to be able to respond to the emotional power of a distant modulation.
While musical language is built on a number of physical "laws", it is still an
artificial construct, some aspects of which require a familiarity with the
syntax to be meaningful.
  
>  I think we are in agreement as to the greater importance of functional
>  harmony, compared to temperament. 

Not sure I meant to prioritize. Not that it's invalid, just that it doesn't
serve a purpose. The two are separate but complementary; each is a means of
expression.

>Temperament is a learned taste, not an
>  automatic reaction. What one is used to sounds "right" and everything else
>  is "out of tune" until one has learned it as well. 

I'm with you here, except that "right"ness is also moot, or at least always a
matter of opinion, because whether MT, WT, or ET (which I see as a WT,
although Owen Jorgensen doesn't) is "right" for a particular piece of music
depends upon which problems one is trying to solve, or rather, which
characteristic one wishes to emphasize. We delight in hearing different
performers play the same piece, because each shows us a new way of hearing it.
In the same way, I think we ought to treat ourselves to performances on old
and new pianos and any temperament which is even reasonably appropriate. 

Bob Davis