[CAUT] Fwd: liszt temp

Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu
Mon Jan 25 19:08:04 MST 2010


On Jan 25, 2010, at 12:34 PM, reggaepass at aol.com wrote:

> If anyone is motivated enough to pursue the matter with Liszt  
> specialists, below are where/whom to ask (references by a Liszt-o- 
> phile friend of mine whom I've been keeping abreast of this thread).


	Actually, a far more fruitful question to ask is what kind of piano  
would be appropriate. Liszt's career spanned the time from late  
Beethoven to the early modern piano, quite an amazing period of time  
for the development of the instrument. He would have played on  
straight strung all wood instruments to start with, and with light  
hammers covered in layers of felt/cloth and/or leather, accelerated at  
a very high ratio. The timbre would have varied considerably from top  
to bottom. He played on Viennese actions as well as early "English"  
and later double escapement.
	These differences from the modern concert grand would be far more  
significant to both performer and audience than a very subtle change  
of temperament from ET, should one choose to go that route. I doubt  
many people have heard Liszt on an older design piano - I know I  
haven't - and it would probably be a revelation. OTOH, much easier  
said than done. The instrument has to be available, while a change in  
tuning is next to nothing.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu





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