Richard writes: > Its a quibble perhaps, (for sure really) but yes, some of us > tuners at least, are all ears to know which "well temperament" > Edwin Good, one of the curators of the recent Piano 300 exhibit at > the Smithsonian, adores. I would be surprised if many pianists accustomed to the well-tempered tunings would quibble over the differences between a modern Coleman 11, engineered on a spread-sheeet, or the form of the Moore and Co. that Jorgensen offers. Or even for that matter, virtually any of the 19th century tunings that keep the widest third below 17-18cents or so. Owen's chapter on "Tuning to Taste" in "Tuning" lets any tuner try the gamut. I do have some customers that have tried them all and selected the one that pleases them best, all around, but all of them say the huge difference is between ET and any of them. Of some importance is the fact that one person's attraction for a tuning doesn't answer too many questions for others, it only suggests a starting place. Like opening with a pretty big wine with really strong cheddar cheese. Some may still prefer a lite-white, but many find that out of balance. There is no "perfect" temperament for everyone. Some respondents have fallen in love with 1/4 comma Mozart on our CD and I still work for people that like every third to be the same. Mr. Good's preference of a particular tuning for Brahms isn't a reflection on any exact temperament as much as it is of his personal aesthetic sense of harmony. Since a pianist can, in a highly tempered key, play either expressively or harshly, one's preference may not suit another. Maybe changing the instrument's voicing would cause him to switch his preferred tuning, or he could possibly think another temperament would sound best for someone else's playing. Simply switching temperaments doesn't automatically "color" the music to its optimum. The pianist has to do the actual creation of musical sensations, and they all do it differently. in fact, I think the musicians' interpretation makes a bigger difference in the music's impact that any difference between the typical Victorian tunings. And I really like some of those temperaments! Ed Foote RPT www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/ www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html <A HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/399/six_degrees_of_tonality.html"> MP3.com - Six Degrees of Tonality</A>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC