[CAUT] Temperament:Harpsichord:Handel ?

[Alan Crane]

At 10:12 PM 12/1/05, Andrew Anderson wrote:
>Of the number of temperaments to choose from, what is the typical choice?
>
>Handel's Messiah, harpsichord continuo


Hi Andrew,

In "A Guide To Selecting And Tuning Unequal Temperaments", David 
Bauguess recommends the Vallotti 1781 well temperament.
The offsets he lists are:

A       0.00
A#      5.87
B       -3.91
C       5.87
C#      0.00
D       1.96
D#      3.91
E       -1.96
F       7.82
F#      -1.96
G       3.91
G#      1.96

This is a really handy little booklet; nicely laid out with a wealth 
of information and pretty inexpensive too.
Its distributed by Veritune, Inc.  (David wrote the Verituner user 
manual and documentation).
I picked up my copy at the PTG Annual Convention/Institute last 
summer in Kansas City.
They can be reached on the web at:  www.veritune.com
or by phone at  1-888-VERITUN (toll-free)
or you can make the trip to Rochester this summer and get one there!         :)



Regards,

Alan B. Crane,  RPT
School of Music
Wichita State University
alan.crane@wichita.edu