WTC

I finally got a look a few weeks ago at Davitt Moroney's WTC on Harmonia
mundi. I can't tell which tuning(s) he uses, especially as I have not
heard a note of the disks. The extensive written notes seem to imply equal
temperament, but even this isn't clear. The evidence brought out for this
is the well-known fact that some of the pieces were transposed as little
(and therefore as far) as a semitone by Bach.

If this proves equal temperament, it's some kind of logic I don't yet get.
There are other arguments, many of which have appeared on this list.

I landed a copy of Huguette Dreyfus's Book 1 on Denon. The notes say she
is using Werckmeister 3 and then go on to say this is 12-note equal
temperament. I checked the original German, and yes, that's what the
writer claims. Anyhow, the playing is not always of the highest quality.

Of course, WTC is hardly the music to use extreme tunings on in the name
of historical authenticity (there may be other reasons). Anyone know what
Gilbert or Leonhardt uses? When I asked Colin Tilney what he used, he
said he didn't know; he had just asked his tuner to set up something
reasonable. I suspect this may be the case with many (certainly not all)
performers.

Paul Rapoport

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