<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#ccccff"> Israel Stein is certainly correct when he writes; " ...the Paris Grand Opera had its own pitch, the Opera Comique had its own pitch and a third opera house (whose name I do not remember) had yet another pitch. In addition, the military bands used their own pitch and the church had yet another pitch..." I also agree when he writes: "It is probably foolish to think in terms of "standard pitch" (even for a locality) much before the late 19th century - it simply was not a realizable concept." <pre wrap="">I have a bit more trouble when he writes: "The Pleyels and the Erards had to build pianos that could go up and down in pitch as needed. As did all piano builders of this era. As to what the range was - that I don't know... A good guess would be somewhere between 420 and 435 - though other pitches (even above 440) are not unknown in this time..."</pre> I would argue to the other direction, that while pitches below 440 were not unknown, most seem to have been above that. There is a fair amount of pitch data which can give us an idea of trends and developments which certainly dispels the "standard pitch A 435" notion. Here are some examples from France, all from Ellis' measurements of collected tuning forks: Paris Grand Opera, 1856/58  : 446.2, 445.8, 448.0 Hz Paris Italian Opera, 1854/56:  442.5, 447.4 Hz Paris Opera Comique, 1854: 448.0 Hz Paris Conservatoire, 1856; 446.2 Hz Toulouse Conservatoire, 1859: 437.0 Lille Conservatoire, 1859: 452.0 Hz Marseille Conservatoire, 1859: 447.0 Earlier pitches were generally lower, but pitches in the second half of the 19th century were mostly higher than today, and in many instances up over 450 Hz, such as a NY Steinway fork at 457.2 Hz (1879) For more examples, visit  <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mozartpiano.com/pitch.html">http://www.mozartpiano.com/pitch.html</a> and scroll down the page.  While the French commission set the "Standard" of 435.0 Hz in 1858, it seems to have been not much more than a proposal, which was largely ignored in favour of higher pitches in the following decades. So, for those of us who service vintage instruments, is it time to retire that A-435 fork and bring in an A-445 fork? <g>. Jurgen Goering Piano Forte Supply <blockquote type="cite" cite="mid200504282258.j3SMwN809535@bridget.rudoff.com"> <pre wrap=""> </pre> </blockquote> </body> </html>