<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type = content=text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY text=#000000 bgColor=#ccccff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Calin Tantareanu<BR>----------------------------------------------------<BR>&nb= sp;<A href="http://calintantareanu.tripod.com">http://calintantareanu.tripod.= com</A><BR>----------------------------------------------------</FONT></D= IV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=pianoforte@pianofortesupply.com href="mailto:pianoforte@pianofortesupply.com">Piano Forte Supply</A> = </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, April 29, 2005 = 6:42 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Pitch in = 1860</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>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..."<BR><BR>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."<BR><BR><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.<BR>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.<BR><BR>Here are some = examples from France, all from Ellis' measurements of collected tuning = forks:<BR><BR>Paris Grand Opera, 1856/58  : 446.2, 445.8, 448.0 Hz<BR>Paris Italian = Opera, 1854/56:  442.5, 447.4 Hz<BR>Paris Opera Comique, 1854: 448.0 = Hz<BR>Paris Conservatoire, 1856; 446.2 Hz<BR>Toulouse Conservatoire, 1859: = 437.0<BR>Lille Conservatoire, 1859: 452.0 Hz<BR>Marseille Conservatoire, 1859: 447.0<BR><BR>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)<BR>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.  <BR>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.<BR><BR>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>.<BR><BR>Jurgen Goering<BR>Piano Forte Supply<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid200504282258.j3SMwN809535@bridget.rudoff.com = type="cite"><PRE wrap=""> = </PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>