Hi!
I've been lurking, I admit. But I've been a closet organologist (someone
is bound to say _something_ to that, I know) for over 30 years. So this
is a subject that I can address more securely than regulation or repair,
which I'm learning now.
Anyway, Conrad's loverly list reminded me that I have a copy of
Helmholtz on the shelf over my bench. This is the Dover edition of the
3rd edition, "with a new appendix bringing information down to 1885".
The appendix, compiled by Ellis (english translator of the book, which
is titled "On the Sensations of Tone as a physiological basis for the
theory of music"), also contains a list like Conrad's, although more
extensive and with Hz to tenths. His lowest is a=373.1, calculated by
Ellis from an earlier calculation by Delezenne from measurements of an
open organ pipe presumed to be c. (Say that in one breath, I dare you!)
A more "bona fide" lowest measured a is a=373.7, a measurement made by
Ellis himself from a "model after Mersenne".
At the other end of the spectrum, lies a=567.3, which is, indeed,
Praetorius' North German church pitch, inferred as a fourth over
"suitable pitch", a=424.2 taken in meantone.
Ellis gives more valuable info to this list interspersed in the second
version of this table, which is organized by country, then category. I
extract liberally:
I. Austro-Hungary
7. pianofortes
1780 Vienna Stein, for Mozart a=421.6
1862 Vienna Esse, per Naeke 454.0
1862 Vienna Proch 445
II. Belgium
(no listing)
III. England, Scotland and Ireland
7. pianofortes
1826 London Broadwood's lowest 433.0
1849-1854 medium 445.9
1854p copy now used 446.2
1860 copy made for 445.5
society of arts
1852-1874 highest(?) 452.5
1874p present highest 454.7
1846a Hipkins' Vocal pitch (meantone) 433.5
1846p Hipkins' Vocal (equal temperament) 436.0
1877 Collard 449.9
1879 Erard 455.3
1879 Steinway (in England) 454.7
1877 Chappell 455.9
IV. France
7. pianofortes, Spinets, Etc.
1648 Mersenne's Spinet 402.9
1713 Sauveur 406.6
1783 Pascal Taskin 409.0
1829 Piano of Opera 425.5
1836 Wolfel's 443.3
V. Germany
9. instruments
1776 Breslau Marpurg 414.4 (included because of the lack of
explicet pianoforte listings)
VI. Holland
(comment that all the organs have been altered, and their original
pitches were not recovered, and then no listings for pianofortes at all)
VII. Italy
7, pianofortes
1839 Bologna Tadolini's fork 425.8
The highest of these is the present Chappell tuning (well, present then)
of 455.9. For 1879, in England, the Steinway listed at a=454.7 matches
the 'present' listing for Broadwood. Conrad's listing of 457 for an
American Steinway is both later than this and higher. The serial number
on the Bosie that started this discussion was 1877, though, so it may be
that this is at least a useful datapoint for the discussion?
raybro
(aka Ray Brohinsky, since it's not considered etiquettically sympatico
to hide behind name concatations.)
Don wrote:
>Hi Conrad,
>
>My what nice research! Do you happen to remember what the highest pitch for
>a piano was? I see Steinway was 457+ but was anyone ever higher?
>
>Regards,
>Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
>
>mailto:pianotuna@accesscomm.ca
>http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/
>
>3004 Grant Rd.
>REGINA, SK
>S4S 5G7
>306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
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>
>
>
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