My two cents, I think it easily can explain decisions to record in nothing but ET. Think how resistant this industry is to change. "Tradition" is one of the more often used terms in the piano business. With ET being the "standard" for the last, ahem, however, many years, I think it is rather easy to see artists (perhaps prodded by technicians - or not) getting it into their heads that "the public, and the critics" might interpret the use of WT poorly, and simply think these "different" recordings to be poor recordings. Sometimes, even when a change is positive, it is not easily accepted in such an industry. BTW, I recognize the arguments on both sides of this issue, and think there is credence to each, "proof" of little, and room for all. How's that for sittin' the fence? Respectfully, William R. Monroe ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@comcast.net> To: "'An open list for piano technicians'" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 7:31 AM Subject: RE: (careful, it is about temperaments) Possible, but not likely to have been the factor for virtually everyone. Doesn't much explain decisions about recording either. David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net -----Original Message----- From: Porritt, David [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Porritt, David Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 2:26 PM To: An open list for piano technicians Subject: RE: (careful, it is about temperaments) Or they thought that when they took their show on the road they couldn't get the temperament of their choice executed by the technicians in the field. >From my observations that's probably true. I listened to Franz Mohr tell a class that if an artist asks for a non-ET temperament to just tune ET and don't go there. Now that was a few years ago but his view of the subject indicated that this idea was probably not subject to change. dp __________________________ David M. Porritt, RPT Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 dporritt@smu.edu _____ From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org on behalf of David Love Sent: Wed 1/11/2006 2:49 PM To: 'An open list for piano technicians' Subject: RE: (careful, it is about temperaments) One thing to consider in all this (and I've probably exhausted my thoughts) is what the major pianist/scholars are doing in this respect. Pianists like Brendl, Schnabel, Perahia, and most of not virtually all others who pour over original source material, biographies, writings, documents in order to glean that small little detail that adds to their commitment to a more authentic interpretation of the music as conceived by the composer. Of all these people it seems (and I say this with the caveat that I have not actually done the research) that most if not all of them, when choosing to record/perform, opt for ET. While there may be a few who, to their credit, are exploring these pieces in the temperaments of the times, they are a stark minority. To suggest that the leading interpreters of classical music of the last century take such pains for authenticity while rejecting the, we assume, prevailing tuning style of the times forces you to the conclusion that they either consciously chose to reject it because it wasn't in their view relevant to the music and authentic interpretation, or that they are/were ignorant, biased or, as Bremmer suggests, did it for some strange business reason. Considering the extent to which they research these issues and their apparent commitment to the original intent of the composers leads me to the conclusion that the tuning style was rejected consciously and that it was not relevant, in their view, to an authentic and musical interpretation. Who am I to argue? If there is real evidence to the contrary, I'm open to hearing it. David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ric Brekne Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:48 AM To: pianotech Subject: (careful, it is about temperaments) As to the matter of conclusive.... we of course agree. I dont anyone can claim conclusive proof one way or the other either... not by a long shot. That said, I /believe/ that composers were affected by the sounds around them... perfect pitch aware or not. I try to imagine my self in that same enviroment... could I not be influenced ? Could it not be a significant part of why I choose any particular key ? Well... we will never know perhaps... I'm not sure it really matters much. Certainly much in that world is there to be explored... if not re-explored. Cheers RicB While I think the exploration of WT has it's own interest in terms of what the composers of that day may have been hearing when they actually played their works on the piano or related instrument, I think it is far from conclusive that those who often conceived of and composed things away from the instrument, with a keen sense of absolute pitch and the unique characteristics of each key apart from the piano, with orchestration ever in their minds would have been driven by tuning style that was evolving even during their own lifetimes. _______________________________________________ Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives _______________________________________________ Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > _______________________________________________ > Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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