Re: perfect tuning

>>
>Ray Tomes wrote,>
>>
>>It seems that no-one is addressing the key point.>
>>Why have a compromise at all?>
>>

To add to the excellent response which mentioned wanderring tonics,
contradictory consonances, the sort of mechanical reasons why
temperring is (for many) a "good idea"...

Constraints are sometimes a very helpful mechanism for both the
artist and the audience. An ET, or a row, or a fixed pitch scale, or
motif, or restricted palette in painting can all be mechanisms to
help the artist make the 'next choice' come from a finite set, and
also facilitate making the rational of that choice understandable
to an audience member.

Referring to serialism, part of the problem is that in many pieces,
despite the limited palette of materials, the materials and variations
are still "too abstract" to hear. Bergs Violin Concerto is the obvious
counter-example where the rows clarity makes the piece listenable by
an average audience (able to listen to other "accepted" twentieth
century music). Babbitt too has some pieces where extreme "micro
micro motifs" are quite comprehendable as music and not "number
games".

Please watch the amount of qouted material people especially responders
to the digest.

Bob Valentine

I find it ironic that in this tuning list we hear mentioned composers such
a Shoenberg, and Babbitt all the time and an omission of composers who
understood what at least 12 et did well. How about Britten or Copland and
even Stravinsky. It seens the first two might even surpass Partch in number
of occurrences.
-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
www.anaphoria.com