Temperaments

[David Porritt]

List:

For me personally, I like ET.  If the soprano is having a bad throat day
the piece in G can be moved to Gb without changing the whole character
of the piece.  There are some advantages to ET.

On the other hand I think some concerts can be enhanced by using some of
the historical temperaments.  In December, Jeffrey Siegel did a concert
at SMU of all Beethoven.  I asked him if he would like to use a
historical temperament like a Youngs.  Since sound only travels at 1020
feet per second, his "NO" answer was out before my last sounds made it
to his ear.  

If an artist doesn't want to use a historical temperament for a program
of all pre-ET music, he certainly won't want to use one for a program
that includes Beethoven et al AND Ravel & Poulenc.  ET is the only thing
that will give a reasonable performance of older and contemporary music
IMHO.  Having said that, if a performer wants some different
temperament, I want to be the one who can deliver for him/her.

dave

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David M. Porritt, RPT
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
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