Must be Messiah time of year. Gunther Schuller was just here to conduct the Messiah as the first segment of our Bach festival. It was a chamber-size orchestra and chorus. I sent Gunther copies of Owen Jorgenson's PTJ series. I never had the chance to talk with him about it though. I chose Bradley Leyman's Bach temperament. The more I listen to this temperament the more I like it. Try it. Listen to the E major triad, very saucy, then E minor brings tears. C-G and D-A fifths are a bit jangly, but in context doesn't offend me. At any rate there is so much going on in the Messiah that I never heard any pitch problems, nor did anyone else. The bigger issue was the difference between the Positif organ, which goes sharp as the heat rises, and the harpsichord, which goes flat as heat rises. The harpsichordist asked me to tune the harpsichord "a few vibrations sharp" so that maybe by the end of the concert, the organ and harpsichord might be in tune. I tuned it 3c sharp. The problem was that the organ started out 4c sharp! I just now talked with the principle cellist and he said he just tried to fit somewhere in between. Then last night they used the church's main pipe organ and there were no (or many fewer) pitch problems. I tried to always tune the harpsichord after it had been under the lights for an hour. Even so I still tuned it 3c sharp. As far as technique, I agree wholeheartedly with Ron N and Fred. I needed to use a T handle for this harpsichord's oblong pins. For our instrument here at the university, I use a gooseneck. I don't think it matters whether you come at it from below or above or what kind of "hammer" you use. We're not amateurs at the tuning game. Go through all the registers twice, just like you do with a piano. As Fred said, they are very sensitive to temperature changes. To quote Ron Nossman in what I think is one of the best statements I have read about tuning technique, "I pull them up or drop them down to pitch, as usual, then alternately turn and jiggle the pin back and forth to find the point where it will be most likely to stay where I leave it - then leave it. I don't have a template. I don't have a checklist. I don't have a conditional set of programmed movements I use in each of a specific number of defined circumstances. I attempt to read what each and every pin and string it telling me and leave it in the most stable condition I can from the information it gives me." Thanks Ron for this wonderfully pithy statement. Get it to pitch and jiggle it. What could be simpler, and yet take lots of experience to do. Amateurs might need some kind of recipe to get them in the ballpark. After a gazillion tunings, a recipe just gets in the way of the professional. Then you start to think about it too much. The offsets for the Bach temperament can be found at: http://www.larips.com/. This is an interesting site. I really don't have enough background to evaluate his thesis, but I do like the temperament. Alan -- Alan McCoy, RPT Eastern Washington University amccoy@mail.ewu.edu 509-359-4627 > From: Avery Todd <atodd@uh.edu> > Reply-To: "College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>" <caut@ptg.org> > Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 08:07:51 -0600 > To: "College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>" <caut@ptg.org> > Subject: Re: [CAUT] Temperament:Harpsichord:Handel ? > > Andrew, > > A couple of years ago that came up here & I sent Mike Jorgensen an e-mail for > some advice. Here's his response: > > I regularly use the Thomas Young here with orchestra and choir on the > harpsichord and have encountered no problems. I cannot remember when we > did the Messiah last though. No harpsichord in that time was tuned in > ET, and the composers knew exactly what they were doing when they > orchestrated the music. Given this, I am certain that both choir and > orchestra will find it very comfortable and natural to play with as they > have here. I will call Dad tonight and get his advice and e-mail you > tomorrow, and/or I'm sure he wouldn't mind your calling him. 906 292 > 5637. > -Mike Jorgensen > > I also called Owen & his suggestion was 1st, Prinze (if they would accept > it - it's a little strong for some people.) then next the Young or Moore. > If I remember correctly, I ended up using the Prinz & had no trouble at > all. That has ended up becoming sort of the default harpsichord tuning here > unless something stronger, like a Meantone, is needed for a specific occasion. > > Avery > > At 10:12 PM 12/1/2005, you wrote: >> Of the number of temperaments to choose from, what is the typical choice? >> >> Handel's Messiah, harpsichord continuo >> >> Andrew C. Anderson >> TAMIU, LCC ... >> >> _______________________________________________ >> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > _______________________ > Avery Todd, RPT > Moores School of Music > University of Houston > Houston, TX 77204-4017 > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC