Temperaments

[Les Smith]

On Sat, 24 Jan 1998, Anne Beetem wrote:

> Thanks for the good laugh tonight,  Les!
> 
>          Yes,  having been practicing Beethoven on a friend's Walther
> replica the other day,  the treble was becoming more poignant by the
> minute!    Now, do realize all though, that touching up one of these old
> babies is a quick activity, and people were already used to waiting for the
> gut strings to retune between movements.   They probably didn't mind
> waiting for the pianist, provided there was no 'attaca'!    Playing Mozart,
> rarely makes it go out of tune, but Beethoven was really does push the
> limits of his instruments.
 
Hi, Anne.

Thanks for the note. Life would be grim, indeed, if we couldn't stop
to smile now and then. The problem with opus 57--which I assume you
play--- is that the second movement DOES lead right into third and
there really is no opportunity to retune at that point. That transi-
tion is organic to the flow of the sonata and really can't be inter-
rupted without doing major damage to the impression it makes on the
listener. 

When I was a youngster, just starting out, the old German piano tuner
who cared for my ancient Steinway B, used to play the middle movement
of opus 57 when he had finished tuning. Eventually I caught on that
he wasn't tuning the piano for ME, he was tuning it for himself. He
got me started tuning by showing my how to lay a temperament and giving
me my first tuning hammer--an ancient extension job with a double head--
one side for oblong pins and one for "modern" pins. Although it was re-
tired long, long ago, I still have the hammer and sometimes, after
finishing a tuning, I've been known to play the middle movement of opus
57 myself. :)

All the best,

Les Smith