the temperament thing

[David Love]

I think you are missing the point and looking at this with a bit of
pianocentricity.  Temperament exists only on the piano.  An orchestra does
not have to worry about it.  The tension that is created in modulation
happens because of the movement away from the tonic.  To completely over
simplify, the more remote the modulation the more tension is created.  The
composer's skill and creativity in navigating a return to the tonic
contributes to the release of that tension.  You don't need something to
sound more out of tune to create tension.  That being said, there is nothing
wrong with a bit of artificial color created by a customized tuning.  Of
course, if the piece is in the key of Ab and the modulation is to C, then we
might find that the modulation creates less tension (in WT) quite contrary
to the wishes of the composer.  Therefore, we should consider customizing
each WT depending, of course, on the key of the piece to be played and the
anticipated modulations...  I think the argument begins to fall apart.

David Love
David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: October 30, 2001 2:58 PM
Subject: Re: the temperament thing


> Howard writes:
> << Absolutely!!  You are under the impression that the purpose of a
modulation
> > is only to hear a color change. Wrong! The beauty of a modulation is the
> > *trip* not the *destination*.
>
>     That is not my impression of modulation.  I expect modulation to
create a
> change of musical tension.  Going to another key creates a change by the
> movement itself in any tuning, however in WT, modulation can create  a
> different musical quality, ( if the composer desires, there is that "key
> choice" thing again).  In ET, the same level of dissonance exists in all
> keys, so you may be in a new place, but the harmonic background is still
the
> same.  Sorta like getting off the train in the exact same place you left.
My
> musical preference likes to go to different places.
>     When I asked about why not use just one key,  I was referring to the
> choice of key for a composition, as in the sonata, NOT lack of modulation.
> This choice merely denotes the home key, from which all modulations take
the
> listener to and from.  If there is no difference between keys, then why
not
> compose everything in the easiest key to play (making say, B the tonic,
since
> it is "hand friendly",) and then modulating through the normal sonata form
> changes.
>   This would be limiting.
>
>       So what does modulation do? It seems that when composers modulated
from
> one key to another, they were changing the musical tension of the music.
If
> we study the way they did this, we find that when increasing the musical
> tension, the modulation moves farther into the dissonance, and when
calming
> down, the modulations move toward consonance.  This makes use of
involuntary,
> emotional, responses in the listener.  We react to dissonance differently
> than we do consonance, and it seems that Beethoven and Schubert et al knew
> this and used the inequality to increase the effects they were after.
When
> relaxing the musical tension, they did not go to a key with more
dissonance
> in the thirds, they went the other way.    You rarely find classical piano
> compositions approaching their finales from a more consonant key, making
> their last modulation to a "higher" key, one with more "color".  This
would
> not use the differences to create "resolution", but rather, unresolved
> expectation, leaving listeners restless; decreasing the feeling of
resolution
> simply by involutary means.  There is a bit of the "tight-shoe" theory
here.
>
>     By moving from one key to another in ET, all you do is change pitch
> centers, so the increase or decrease in tension must be solely a function
of
> the composition and intellectually created in the minds of the listener.
In
> a WT, those same modulations have the added circuitry of increasing or
> decreasing levels of dissonance, which has been proven to create
additional
> emotional response in the majority of listeners.  Thus my contention that
the
> emotional effects are heightened in WT.  This is also the major response I
> have gotten from pianists.
>
>      And for the record, my entire endeavor inre temperament has been to
> encourage a multi-temperament approach by the modern technician, using
modern
> technology.  To do this requires a certain amount of judgement, hence
risk.
> Some cannot stand to be put in this position of decision-making, thus the
> status quo represents safety and they will defend their reliance on it to
the
> end. Others will be attached to ET because of the sameness to be found in
the
> keys and the beauty of a 14 cent third.  To each his own.
>       I have NEVER suggested that any one temperament supplant all others,
so
> my focus is NOT on elimination of ET, WT, MT or AFT, but rather, the
addition
> of more choices to our tuning capabilities.
>      To those that would claim that any one temperament is superior to all
> others, I can only say, "Perhaps you have your head out of the sand, there
is
> more than one way to tune a piano".
> Regards,
> Ed Foote RPT
>
>
>