In a message dated 4/13/00 7:28:00 AM Central Daylight Time, remoody@midstatesd.net (Richard Moody) writes: << Did N'Kaoua request 1/7 Meantone? If so just wondering why he chose that over the 1/6. Mark Lindley wrote in New Groves, "..Romieu in 1758 expressed preference for 1/6 comma mean-tone because he liked the relative amount of tempering that it allots to 5ths and 3rds." ("Temperaments"p666). 1/7 comma wasn't mentioned. Sources? >> Quite frankly, Mr. Farley avoids "using the 'T' word" as he puts it. He never asks anyone what they want anymore, he gives them what they will take. If Monsieur N'Kaoua had complained about the tuning during his rehearsals the entire week before the concert, Mr. Farley would have changed it but there was never any complaint. Ravel lived from 1875 to 1937 so he might really be considered an early 20th Century composer. ET is the most obvious choice but Mr. Farley long ago rejected the path of least resistance. He discovered the 1/7 comma Meantone when he asked Owen Jorgensen what the mildest Meantone temperament ever published was. The answer was the 1/7, published by Romieu in 1758. It is found in Owen's first publication, Tuning the Historical Temperaments by Ear. (Sorry, not in the big red book). He tried it and was fascinated with its properties beyond anything he had ever tried before. Remember, he and all of us are working with the modern piano, not the harpsichord, organ, fortepiano or even late 19th Century pianos but Steinways, Yamahas, Kawais, Baldwins, Mason & Hamlins, etc. He and we need to make these kinds of instruments express whatever music is to be played on them as best possible regardless of which kind of instrument, at whichever pitch or temperament may have been preferred by any particular composer. The imposition of ET on virtually every kind of music may be viewed really as the most extreme and unnecessarily harsh compromise of all. That is the way Mr. farley and I view it and that is why we never choose it. It alters all music much more than is necessary. Mr. Farley chooses the 1/7 Comma Meantone now almost exclusively and has for several years now. It is his answer to ET. He gets very little complaint about it. My own opinion of it is that it is a bit too strong to use on just every piano because I have done as he has, used it indiscriminately and have had a few complaints about it. I do use it occasionally but only when I feel that the customer and situation is sure to accept it. In short, Mr. Farley chose the temperament because of the way it makes his pianos sound in general, not because of any particular music that is to be played on them. He has found through experience that most artists have very little or no knowledge about the various kinds of temperaments, only the myths and irrational fears that are the most commonly held by musicians and technicians alike. He feels that the artist must concentrate on the music, not on some new concept which has just been presented right before performance time. This would only be a distraction. The artist must adapt to the inherent differences of each piano in any case. His experience has revealed that an artist adapts to the kind of temperament and octaves tuned quite the same as he or she adapts to touchweight, regulation and voicing. As many have often expressed, a good artist can make good music under most any circumstances. Many have often expressed that choosing a temperament without consulting the customer or artist would be unethical because ET is "Common Law practice". We feel quite the contrary, that to choose ET is imposing the will of the piano tuning profession upon the music and musician. To this degree, the insistence of the major piano manufacturers on the exclusive use of ET at the Convention, where ideas should be tried and developed is foolishly timid and unnecessarily restrictive. The words, dumb, backward, ignorant and bigoted also readily come to mind. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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