Temperament, A pianist responds

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Ric writes:
<<So please explain why it is so important to tune in a different temperament
if the experts can't even hear the difference especially against a piano in
ET? >>

       This is a central point of temperament's importance.  Sensitivity to 
it opens an additional world of harmonic organization in this music, one 
which borders on the sensual realm. You can get by without it, just like you 
can have your porridge with no salt, but once the difference is appreciated, 
few go back.  
   This "expert" has an incomplete grasp of the music and in his ignorance, 
he is missing something. He was not listening to what he was producing.   
   Being sensitive to temperament is a learned skill.  And the only ones that 
are going to be teaching it are the technicians. Once it is learned, then the 
doors start to open, and things like the truly complex modulations and 
reasons for key choice begin to appear. 
    It is not unlike the "Magic Eye" computer pictures.  At first glance, it 
appears to be simply a pattern of odd colors and dots.  Once the viewer 
learns to allow his/her perspective to become malleable, the image of the 
donkey balancing on a ball, or a steamship,etc.  appears.  Those that can't 
manage the perspective usually don't believe that there is a coherent image 
in there, becoming suspiscious only when a lot of people see the same image 
that they don't.  That is where we are in the trade at the moment, in regards 
to temperaments.     
   And Richard B. is right,  the heavyweights of academia don't want to be 
told that they have spent their careers in ignorance of some fundamental 
aspect of the music that they profess to have mastered. They will resist, no 
matter what.  For that reason, I am concentrating my efforts on our students, 
who now are beginning to be keenly aware of tonal qualities that they never 
knew existed, and were never taught about before.  It has the instructors on 
their toes, (here at Vanderbilt, they are not intimidated, but intriqued), 
and we are all getting deeper into the pre1850 musical world than ever 
before. 
     I am proposing that this awareness is good, and worth the effort to 
teach.  Intonation has never stayed the same for long.  If one decides to fix 
themself in one place, they can't expect to see beyond the immediate horizon, 
but there are infinite vistas out there for the adventurous.  And it doens't 
have to be that dangerous to explore!  That was the whole purpose of the 
"Temperaments for the 21st Century" class I presented at the last three PTG 
conventions.  This whole new world of beauty can be safely surveyed, and 
decisions can be made that are productive. 
    "They that have ears, let them hear". 
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT 
Nashville, Tn.