The first consideration for temperament would be what the composer specified. Now in the case of ALL of the composers, NOT ONE said what the temperament should be. Perhaps Bach came closest when he titled the Well Tempered Clavier. Unfortunatly he did not indicate what Well Tempered was, or how it should be tuned. But here we are in modern times and we have to decide how to tune a piano so it can play Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with an orchestra. Beethoven left us clue-less. The logical question begging the logical answer is "How does the orchestra tune?"--- so tune the piano that way. Now some explaining has to be done, even to a tuner such as myself with only a little musical knowledge at least as far as orchestras goes. They don't play in different temperaments, their intervals are centered around Just Intonation, no matter what key they play in, unless I am gravely mistaken. We know the piano can't be tuned in Just Intonation.So how then should it be tuned to play with an orchestra that plays in Just Intonation? The logical answer is Equal Temperament. Because ET is the one temperament closest to all of the key signatures in Just Intonation. In other words, a piano tuned in ET will match more closely the pitches played by an orchestra, in any given key, and from key to key, and any key changes within the composition. Now please notice I talked about pianos playing with orchestras. If one wants to tune a different temperament for a piano, he or she would be considering that only if the piano is to be used as a solo instrument. For chorus or orchestra, ET is the "universal" temperament for the piano. Now the advocates for "other" temperaments will have their say, but please remember Beethoven didn't. By the way, what key is the 5th Concerto in?? Any other choice for temperament based on musical theory at least deserves to be heard. Richard Moody
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