String Intonation

Bradley M. Snook bsnook@pacbell.net
Fri, 26 Apr 2002 17:01:56 -0700


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> I believe you are suggesting playing notes melodically (i.e. one after another never sounding together) to set a temperament. This would leave a disaster.
Right, it does not work, that is the point (I thought that is what I said). It doesn't work for piano, and it doesn't work for strings: you don't melodically temper intervals.

> I disagree with your statement about current practice. I freelanced for a long long time Bradley. I won't repeat myself further. 
There is no need . . . I am just saying than during master classes I hear a completely different opinions. Just yesterday during a rehearsal, Menahem Pressler was expressing his disappointed with the strings' problems with intonation; they just were not "in-tune with each other."

> Would you consider the Orford quartet a good one?
I have never personally met the quartet, nor have I seen any of them speak on such topics; in fact, I didn't know that they were still performing, I was under the impression that they had disbanded a long time ago. Do you really think that the Orford quartet is a good example of current performance practices? Anyway, I have heard their old Beethoven recordings. They were a good quartet with much energy, but they unnecessarily used way too much vibrato. It seemed to always be set in the ON position, and that in turn had a major effect on their intonation. Their playing is clearly old school. 'Modern' Beethoven specialists [like the Alexander] have clearly moved to a new level of performance. Performance practices change; you either change with them, or you don't.


Bradley M. Snook

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