cents to cps .... need

[Billbrpt]

In a message dated 98-03-09 22:08:56 EST, you write:

<< I wish to assure everybody that [Dr. William Braid White] was not an 'evil
scientist' but a fine gentleman of high intellect and cultivation.
Incidentally, his Phd. was in music.  Nor was he responsible for popularizing
equal temporament; it was well established many years before he arrived on the
scene. One only needs to study Helmholtz and the additions by his translator,
J.Alexander Ellis to realize this. The book was written in the 1880's. >>

Thank you for your information, Ted.  As you can see, I am not allowed to say
whatever comes to me off the cuff.  People might actually think I'm offering
information.  I remember very well your admonition to me in April of 1990 in
Quebec City:  "Young man, you'd better stop going around doing what you are or
you're going to get in a great deal of trouble."  

My favorite TV show when I was a small child in the 1950's was "Danger Is My
Business".   It served as a great inspiration to my impressionable young mind.

I have Dr. White's book, of course, have read it and treasure it as a staple
that anyone who is interested in Piano Technology should refer to.  Let us not
forget, however that in the conclusion of his book, Dr. White "tipped his hat"
to Meantone and effectively acknowledged that its use might well again become
the norm some day in the future.  This while repeating the very serious error
which has lead to so much misunderstanding:  "Bach began to tune his
clavichords in ET (sic) so that his pupils might be able to play in all
tonalities without frequent retunings.  The celebrated WT Clavier [music] in
each of the 12 major & minor tonalities, was the first fruit of this famous
experiment in intonation".

This statement is patently incorrect but I have learned over the years not to
automatically believe every thing I read, even if it is written by a well
respected individual with solid credentials.  I prefer to give emphasis to the
statements he made which immediately followed his erroneous one:

"Nevertheless, it is very interesting to tune a piano in Mean Tone and then
play some of the early classical music...and even later music...up to Mozart."
"...some of the discordances produced when the 12 [keys] are tuned in Mean-
Tone Temperament might be used to advantage in modern music."  "Ellis, in the
famous 20th Appendix to Helmholtz, points out how each tonality in Mean-Tone
posseses a character of its own...whereas ET makes all chords...possess the
same degree of roughness and so destroys (Now, this is a word I take very
seriously, *destroys*.)  the several once existing individual characteristics
of the different tonalities.  It is remarkable that musicians still speak of
the "bright" key of C Major, the "dark" key of F# Major, the "tragic" key of C
Minor, and the "sweet" key of Ab Major; and this in a day of universal ET!"
(sic).

I too, find it remarkable because those definitions of "color" could only be
accurate if the piano were tuned in, you guessed it, good ol' Reverse-Well.
It seems to me that what has been "universal" if anything has been a profound
misunderstanding of what one was doing and what one was listening to and for.
While this universal trend is still largely in force, enlightened people like
Owen Jorgensen have made it possible for us in the present and those who will
follow us to undo this Age of Disenlightenment.

I hope to see you at the Temperament Recital in Providence, Ted. You are a
true friend and inspiration to me.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin