Clavichord concert -- music of Jane Austen

I will be giving an informal clavichord concert in Fall River Mass., 50
miles south of Boston, on Sunday, July 13 at 3:00 at the Lafayette-Durfee
House (built by Durfees in 1750, Lafayette slept there one night in the
1790's, now a museum) at 94 Cherry Street. "Music from the Private
Collections of Jane Austen", including Handel's Water Music in keyboard
transcription, Haydn's Sonata no. 48 in C, of which we have an actual
manuscript copy in Jane Austen's hand, and a number of country dances and
sentimental songs. I'll probably be using Young's temperament, I may also
bring a fretted clavichord in meantone for the Scottish Songs and country
dances if there are likely to be people there interested in such things.
Audience limited to 40 (aside from the softness of the clavichord, we're
holding it in the kitchen, the largest room in the house!), reservations
recommended. Call me (508)674-6128. (or of course e mail).

Judith Conrad, Clavichord Player (jconrad@sunspot.tiac.net)
Director of Fall River Fipple Fluters
Church Musician at First Congregational Church, Bristol, R. I.
Piano and Harpsichord Tuner-Technician

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> The entire point of well temperaments is that they are
>> about equally well in tune in all keys.
> I have to disagree. ... the difference between F and F#
>is too great to call equally well in tune. ... the point of well temperament
>was to provide a suitable palette of tonal differences between the keys.

Ed Foote is almost certainly a better authority on well temperaments
than I am. But anyway, notice that I said "about equally well in tune",
and not "identical sounding", in all keys.

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On Wed, 2 Jul 1997 A440A@aol.com wrote:
> The entire point of well temperaments is that they are
> > about equally well in tune in all keys.
>
> I have to disagree. Even in the Young, the difference between F and F#
> is too great to call equally well in tune. This is a big difference.
> To my ears and history, the point of well temperament was to provide
> a suitable palette of tonal differences between the keys. It is the
> irregularity of these tunings that was an art form, as opposed to the
> scientific procedures we have to use to create a 12TET.
>
I have to agree with your disagreement. :)

I have not seen anyone else voice this opinion, but I believe that the
development of sonata form in the classic period was directly related to
the inequality (but acceptability) of the different keys. Perhaps the
greatest difference between the classic period sonata form and its baroque
binary form predecessors was the use of a development section. Although
many beginning students think of the development as developing themes,
this, in fact, does not occur (in the sense of altering, expanding,
treating fugally, etc.) much in the classic period. Instead, many
different keys are visited.

I believe that the purpose of visiting the many different keys was partly
to 'feel out' the relative tension of the different keys. To put it
simplistically, just as beginning musicians will play "Mary Had A Little
Lamb" in minor 'just to see how it sounds,' I believe that the development
section visited many different keys to see how they sounded, since they
did NOT sound the same.

Of course, this effect is totally lost on an equally tempered instrument.

Joe Downing,
Syracuse, NY

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>> The entire point of well temperaments is that they are
>> > about equally well in tune in all keys.
>...I believe that the
>development of sonata form in the classic period was directly related to
>the inequality (but acceptability) of the different keys.

Again noting that I said, "about equally well in tune" and not
"identical sounding" in all keys, I'd say that that, and "inequality (but
acceptability) of different keys" are two different ways of saying the same
thing.

The original premise of the question was that well temperaments get
farther out of tune as you venture farther from C Major. Although
well-temperaments are not my specialty, I'm not aware of many, if any,
well-temperaments have that property. I seriously doubt if ol' JS would
have written in F and F# in the same suite if he expected one to sound
wildly more out of tune than the other!

In contrast, meantone tunings clearly would not fit this bill. In a
narrow band of key frames they sound exactly identical, and outside that
band they sound far from "acceptable" as you put it, because of the wolf.

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On Fri, 4 Jul 1997, Gary Morrison wrote:
> >> The entire point of well temperaments is that they are
> >> > about equally well in tune in all keys.
> >...I believe that the
> >development of sonata form in the classic period was directly related to
> >the inequality (but acceptability) of the different keys.
> Again noting that I said, "about equally well in tune" and not
> "identical sounding" in all keys, I'd say that that, and "inequality (but
> acceptability) of different keys" are two different ways of saying the same
> thing.
> The original premise of the question was that well temperaments get
> farther out of tune as you venture farther from C Major. Although
> well-temperaments are not my specialty, I'm not aware of many, if any,
> well-temperaments have that property. I seriously doubt if ol' JS would
> have written in F and F# in the same suite if he expected one to sound
> wildly more out of tune than the other!

He most certainly did use the relative in-out-of-tuneness in his music,
and he was not alone! In ANY of the frequently used well-tempered
systems, F major is the most in-tune key with C and G close seconds. The
less used keys are much more out-of-tune, yet, as required by the
well-tempered philosophy, usable.

For a revealing exercise, look at cadences on F# major. They nearly
always occur at some point where their very weakness has structural import
to the piece. For example:

Prelude and Fugue in D, BWV532
The opening section is all in D major - fast scales - very light and
showy.
The second section of the prelude is somewhat whimsical and uses dotted
rhythms over a pedal F#. It is usually played on a secondary manual (even
on equal-tempered performances) with a lighter registration. This section
cadences on F# major. Note that, because F# major is prettymuch on the
out-ofne side of the spectrum, the F# major chord is short - only an
eighth note long, and followed by a grand pause. The section basically
'falls apart' on such a weak cadence.
The grand pause is followed by a two octave scale leading up to a HUGE
(usually full organ) chord on D Major - an incredibly bright key. This is
followed by one of the most glorious Alla Breves in music - full of joy
and light. Further analysis would show how very carefully Bach related
the keys of sections to the tension necessary.

You could also look at the Toccata and Fugue in F - the one that begins
with a long canon between the hands overa sustained pedal note. In the
Fugue, there are a number of deceptive cadences that bear analysis. They
all proceed from very tame dominant chords (Ex. C Major) to outlandish,
very much more out-of-tune chords (such as Db third inversion). This
makes the deception even more shocking.

Bach used that same technique in many other pieces. I remember two young
daughters (under age 10) listening to a performance of the G major "Piece
d'Orgue" which also has a glorious All Breve section which concludes with
a shocking deceptive cadence to o vii o7 of V. Even though they had been
listening complacently, they both gasped audibly (to the performer's
delight and amusement)

Look at the Prelude in C major from Book One of WTC. Listen to the chords
in any standard well-tempered system, and you will hear a rise in tension
over a long arc, then a release, than a larger rise which gives way to
final release. (It was this piece that made a believer out of me.)

Bach was not alone in his use of the relative dissonance/consonance of
chords. In the Burkhart anthology, look at the Scarlatti Sonata in E
Major. It, too, has an internal cadence on F# major which is marked as a
short note followed by a grand pause. he then proceeds to fanfares on
open fifths on F# (where we discover that it was the A# third that was
causing the out-of-tune F# triads - the fifths are VERY in-tune.)

Joe Downing,
in Syracuse

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>In ANY of the frequently used well-tempered
>systems, F major is the most in-tune key with C and G close seconds. The
>less used keys are much more out-of-tune, yet, as required by the
>well-tempered philosophy, usable.

Then a guess it comes down to the connotations and denotations of
admittedly vague phrase "about equally". My main goal was to express that
philosophy of all keys being what you aptly called "usable". What I was
including in the category of FAILING to be "about equally well in tune" was
of the nature of a meantone wolf fifth.

I'm personally more interested in tunings that produce much less subtle
pitch deviations from 12TET, like 9:7s, 11:9s, 7:6s, 7:4s, and 11:6s for
example. So although I have personally experienced the different feelings
that well-temperaments have across various keys, general trends like
gradually getting more exotic as you deviate from C Major I have not
noticed before. I'll try them out on my ASR-10 in that light.

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On Fri, 4 Jul 1997, Gary Morrison wrote:

> The original premise of the question was that well temperaments get
> farther out of tune as you venture farther from C Major. Although
> well-temperaments are not my specialty, I'm not aware of many, if any,
> well-temperaments have that property.

From what I have experienced and learned, virtually all of the Well
Temperaments have the property of ascending dissonance in the tonic thirds as
the key signature gains more accidentals. At the same time, since thirds and
fifths are in acoustical oppostion, the keys with the most purely tuned
thirds have the most highly tempered fifths. This supported the twin
capabilities of some keys favoring the harmony, while others, ( the remote
keys), provided more "expression" for the melodic line.
Also, to the above quote, Joseph Downing replies:

In ANY of the frequently used well-tempered
>systems, F major is the most in-tune key with C and G close seconds. The
>less used keys are much more out-of-tune, yet, as required by the
>well-tempered philosophy, usable.

This is not quite right, (IMHO), . The Valotti temperament, following
the style of the Italians, does tune the F-A third as the purest third in the
temperament. However, if we look at a number of other well temperaments,
such as the Prinz, Young, D'Alembert, or G.F.Handel, we find the C-E third
is the purest, (not always just, but usually very close).
Since the common denominator seems to be that additiional accidentals
bring about about increases in the tempering of the root tonic thirds, how a
temperament allotted the comma was a lively topic of conversation in the 18th
century. Some, like the Young, begin with a slightly tempered C-E, and
progress in even steps all the way up to F#-A# and Gb-Bb. This is a
beautiful temperament in its symmetry,plus the fact that the most highly
tempered thirds are exactly 1 syntonic comma wide. This is the idealized
well temp. form, according to Jorgensen.
There are several temperaments by Stanhope that favor the C-E and G-B
equally, and others, (Rousseau), that favor the F-A and C-E as the closest
to pure polar keys, so it seems that the C-E was the pivot point around
which the maximum purity was normally placed. This makes sense as a legacy
of the meantone systems, as the most common meantone systems are, I think,
directly aimed at producing the Just C-E first. (A real meantone maven could
help us out here, I tread thinner ice when I get to far before
Werckmiester).

Even though the Prinz is probably my favorite, the Young is the most
succesful temperament for initiating the heretofore unexposed12 tet masses
into key color recognition. I find that some musicians are most impressed
with the added purity in the simpler keys, and others are struck by the edge
and brilliance that comes from the more highly tempered keys. Some can't
tell the differerence, and others go nuts! A well known piano entertainer, (
he was entertainer of the year in the Country music world once before.......)
went for my explanation on the temperaments, and I tuned a very clean Young
on his Steinway. He called his studio tuner the next day to come return it
to ET. He couldn't stand it!!. This is an easily acquired taste, but it is
an acquired one..

Regards,
Ed Foote
Precision Piano Works
Nashville, Tn



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