TMI

Those who are interested in Italian music theory of 300 years ago
(Zarlino e.a.) can look here:
http://candl.let.ruu.nl/research/tmi/main.htm
It's a project called Thesaurus Musicarum Italicarum which is an
initiative of the Department of Computer and Humanities at Utrecht
University, the aim of which is to publish a cohesive electronic
corpus of Italian music treatises from the second half of the
sixteenth to the early seventeenth century.

Manuel Op de Coul coul@ezh.nl

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Ed Foote wrote:

> We are hoping for a September/october release. I have the record
>companies permission to give ordering information to my 'net contacts
first,
>and then distribution should be through Allegro, so for those that want
one,
>the first place to get it will be told here the list here, then
hopefully,
>anywhere.

I'll be waiting!



>I think they are using much vibrato now because they are torn
>between the ET note , and a note that just musically screams to be
used, (
>how's that for a technical description of schizoid intonation?)

My own feeling is that it is used, in part, to obscure the size of the
intervals they are required to match. It is certainly harder to hear an
interval *as an interval* as opposed to hearing two notes when there is
warbling going on. The first time I heard vocal ensembles without it was
breathtaking. Of course, no keyboard was involved there, so they *could*
sing pure intervals.


> The response I have gotten from the performers leads me to think
that
>the effects of leaving ET are strong, but not directly apparent to the
>audience. This is based on the reaction I have been getting from,
(among
>others) vocalists. They say that once the alien nature of well
temperament
>dissipates, [...] they find that it is much easier to hit
>pitches, they are no longer forced to put notes in what seem to be
>"artificial places", and they find a real security with that tonal
center.
> With that security, phrasing and inflection take less effort.
There is
>freedom to be creative that comes from this sort of security.

.. and to use intonation as an expressive device as well?


>One other telling moment came when we( my artist/conspirator and I),
>used the Young temperament for Beethoven's third concerto, ( without
>telling anyone). The dean of the school found me later and said that he
had
>never heard a piano sound so good in front of the symphony like that,
That it
>stood out like never before. There were numerous comments about how
>incredibly tense the artist was able to make the middle section seem .
It
>appears to have had an effect, but it is a deeper effect than words do
>justice. I think the piano temperaments might be more of a subliminal
thing,
>but I don't use that word out there in customer-land; it scares'em,
>makes'em think of UFOs and stuff.

Not subliminal, I think, but audiences don't know why things sound
different. Like your dean, they are fully aware that the middle section
is more tense, they just don't notice that the thirds and fifths are
different and that's why. Maybe it's really better *not* to reveal the
secret - more accolades for the performer this way!



>What was "intended" is, by now, a "debated-to-death" point.

Yes indeed. My question about the Bach and Bull (hmm... sounds like the
name of a pub...) was largely rhetorical. Both have been discussed on
the harpsichord list, and the Bach was fought over on this one a year or
two ago. We tend to take a fairly rigid attitude to tuning today.
Personally, I think composers back then were more flexible, treating it
more as a performers option, within certain bounds, like ornamentation.
After all, their descriptions were not precise: "Narrow the fifths by as
much as ye ear will permit." How helpful!


> Since I can use a tuning hammer, and have a lot of pianos around
me,
> I am able to make some changes in people's attitudes that talking just
would
>not do. It amazed me how quickly people could have their sense of
tonality
>awaken. At least with familiar music. Thus, the CD.

Keep up the good work!



>It appears that the WTC I gains improvement with the slightest WT, and
>gets progressively better all the way back to Werckmiester's roughest!
I
>know of at least one tuner that chases the genre back into meantone
>territory, but that starts making me think of Jimi Hendrix at times.

The Mean-Tempered Clavier!! One of these days I'm going to try it, just
for grins.


Gordon Collins
gordon_collins@jhuapl.edu

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