Coleman 11

[Dennis Benson]

I'm confused... I've heard two sides to the "Well Tempered Clavier" story.
Did Bach write it to show ET or to show how each piece could be written to
sound in the current temperment?

Dennis



Sebastian Bach began to
>tune his clavichords in Equal Temperament so that his pupils might be
>able to play in all tonalities without frequent retunings. The
>celebrated Well Tempered Clavier, 48 Preludes and Fugues in each of the
>twelve major and minor tonalities, was the first fruit of this famous
>experiment in Intonation"(PIANO TUNING AND ALLIED ARTS, p.243).
>
>I took White's book to be my piano technician's Bible. I think quite a
>few others did, too. I guess I feel that I was misled. I'm not blaming
>White, but I am grateful that it's getting easier to be exposed to a
>broader knowledge of tuning.
>
>Bob Anderson
>Tucson, AZ