<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2715.400" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=1><EM>> I believe you are suggesting playing notes melodically (i.e. one after another never sounding together) to set a temperament. This would leave a disaster.</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>Right, it does not work, that is the point (I thought that is what I said). It doesn't work for piano, and it doesn't work for strings: you don't melodically temper intervals.</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM><FONT size=1>> I disagree with your statement about current practice. I freelanced for a long long time Bradley. I won't repeat myself further.</FONT> <BR></EM></FONT><FONT size=2><STRONG>There is no need . . . I am just saying than during master classes I hear a completely different opinions. Just yesterday during a rehearsal, Menahem Pressler was expressing his disappointed with the strings' problems with intonation; they just were not "in-tune with each other."</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT size=1>> Would you consider the Orford quartet a good one?</FONT><BR><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman">I have never personally met the quartet, nor have I seen any of them speak on such topics; in fact, I didn't know that they were still performing, I was under the impression that they had disbanded a long time ago. Do you really think that the Orford quartet is a good example of current performance practices? Anyway, I have heard their old Beethoven recordings. They were a good quartet with much energy, but they unnecessarily used way too much vibrato. It seemed to always be set in the ON position, and that in turn had a major effect on their intonation. Their playing is clearly old school. 'Modern' Beethoven specialists [like the Alexander] have clearly moved to a new level of performance. Performance practices change; you either change with them, or you don't.</FONT></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Bradley M. Snook</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>