source file: m1364.txt
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 16:08:12 -0500

Subject: TUNING digest 1363

From: Daniel Wolf <DJWOLF_MATERIAL@compuserve.com>

<Werckmeister III seems to have been the
<most popular of the well temperaments.

A more correct statement would probably be:

<Werckmeister III seems to have become the
<most popular of the well temperaments.

The use of WIII is obiquitous in contemporary early music performance
practice. It's easy to tune, sounds good across a wide repertoire, and ev=
en
the most popular electronic tuners sold to harpsichord owners have the
tuning built-in. However, to my taste at least, it is perhaps taken too
rigidly with regard to the actual order of keys used. =


My reading is that the tunings described by the baroque theorists are
generalized descriptive of a more diverse contemporary practice. Individu=
al
tuners would presumably have had their own variations on such general
models and - for the stringed keyboards - adjustments were probably made
for the particular repertoire to be played. (Organ tunings are another
matter: 1/6 comma meantone seems to have been used most frequently).

I recommend Herbert Kelletat's _Zur Musikalischen Temperatur_ (in two
volumes, one for baroque and one for classical music) as a good, recent
survey of the topic.  =


Were modern instruments used in the New York performance where Johnny
Reinhard coordinated the tuning? A performance on historical instruments
where a historical tuning is used would be standard practice, but a moder=
n
instrument performance with historical tunings represents an interesting
hybrid.

Daniel Wolf
  =