source file: mills2.txt Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 15:20:18 -0800 Subject: RE: more Bach From: reinhard@styx.ios.com (Johnny Reinhard) Where is the microtonal Beethoven? is a common enough complaint. Here was a man's who's music improved as he went deaf. Why not accept that for J.S. Bach, writing in a full cycle of 12 major and minor keys _was_ "microtonal." Despite the fact that there was no concept of "absolute pitch," he mastered improvisation regardless of intonation. He often showed off on keyboards that were limited by meantone tuning, emphasizing the howling of the wolves (old Silbermann story). That Bach springs divine is a tribute to him and not to any subtle variation of key characteristics...certain. But there is no clear connection between this success story and those of us challenging ourselves creatively with a tabula rasa, daily. Living and breathing music as Bach, Beethoven, et al. did allowed for a mastery of craft that resonates with greatness. It came with no guarantees. There were many others that tried and didn't pass muster. Bach's special qualities that I can hear distincltly brought to bear in his music when tuned in Werckmeister III - is my preference. To understand as completely as possible why I like it so, I have spent some academic time and earned some academic dues. But they 'ain't nothing compared to playing the music. It's like the difference between reading a printout and being plugged directly into cyberspace with all its functions available. BTW, those in the NYC metropolitan area, please feel invited to tune in to the 8th annual "Microtonal" Bach radio show which I host on WKCR-FM, 89.9 FM on Christmas Day, December 25th from 11 AM to 3 PM. It is part of an annual week-long BachFest. Johnny Reinhard American Festival of Microtonal Music reinhard@styx.ios.com Andre Stein email: andre@magna.com.au PO Box 645 Chatswood NSW 2057 Australia NOTE: I AM IN THE USA UNTIL FEBRUARY 1996 AND WILL ONLY BE CHECKING MY EMAIL INFREQUENTLY. TO CONTACT ME DURING THAT TIME: email: stein@fsg.prusec.com tel: (212) 477 7066 Apartment 1112A 24 Fifth Ave, New York City, NY, USA Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Wed, 6 Dec 1995 05:16 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id TAA07176; Tue, 5 Dec 1995 19:16:29 -0800 Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 19:16:29 -0800 Message-Id: <951205221105_126183774@mail04.mail.aol.com> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu