Beethoven in HT's

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

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List,

I had the unexpected pleasure and challenge of tuning a Baldwin Grand for a 
performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto #5, "The Emperor" yesterday.  It 
has been 12 years, almost to the day since I tuned a piano for that piece.  
Back in February, 1990, I used the Vallotti temperament since I was 
comfortable with it at the time.

Later, after learning many more HT's, I still thought that if I had to tune 
for this piece again, I would choose this temperament because it works so 
well with the piece.  It provides the piano with pure 5ths for virtually 
everything which is played.  It gives the piano such a clean, in tune sound, 
I can hardly imagine choosing any other temperament.

Yet, I still felt cornered from four angles while making the decision.  A few 
years ago, there was a blow hard tuner who used to dominate this List who was 
going to tune for the same piece and who scoffed, "I wouldn't think of using 
that Vallotti" (while badly misspelling the name).  He wanted people to come 
to the performance and *guess* what he had done.

He had chosen the Marpurg Quasi Equal Temperament because all but 3 of the 
5ths in that temperament are pure and the 3rds sound just like ET.  This 
choice was made for the very same reason I made my choice but the booby trap 
was that the 3 5ths that are tempered each by 4 cents were the very ones used 
throughout the entire piece!  These 5ths are tempered even more than in 1/7 
Comma Meantone!

Which leads to the next 2 angles of opposition:  on one side, I have Ed Foote 
saying how bad 1/7 Comma Meantone is and that he would never use it for any 
Beethoven and on the other, there is Tim Farley asking me yesterday what 
problem I saw with using it.  My answer to both of them is that 1/7 Comma 
Meantone would have worked just fine but I had good reasons for making the 
specific choice that I did.

The final angle that I never give either a reason or excuse to are the two 
scowling piano teachers that always show up at these events and who always 
ask me if that was ET and to whom I always say that the information is 
confidential.  They always seem to be impressed with the way I make the piano 
sound and are always hopeful that what they liked so much was ET.  They will 
never hire me to tune their pianos because I refuse to do them in ET.  Their 
alternative always ends up being Reverse Well.

I dug around this morning and I found a copy of that tape from Albuquerque.  
My son is visiting next weekend and he tells me he can make a WAV sample for 
me to put on my website.  So, I may be able to do what some have asked for 
after all.  After listening to that tape this morning, I'd have to say that I 
wouldn't ever take Ed Foote's, the Steinway men or any of those who 
complained to Kent Webb opinions seriously.  I'd just go ahead and do what I 
planned on doing and let the chips fall where they may.

Last week, when I was in the recording studio, a younger tech was there to 
observe what I was doing. I went to the Kawai piano which had been delivered 
in 1/7 Comma Meantone.  I showed him the differences between the two, playing 
some of the elements of the Apassionata Sonata and I must say that I 
regretted destroying the superior properties of that temperament just to 
satisfy the lowest common denominator that would not accept anything richer 
and stronger than the EBVT.  The EBVT gives the piano clarity, mild texture 
and very mild color but the 1/7 Comma Meantone gives the piano bold strength 
and power.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
 <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A> 

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