Re: Tavener's Lamb (was Ben Johnston recordings, seasickness, training)

wallyesterpaulrus wrote:

well, the beginning looks like adaptive ji, say vicentino's, would

> work great. the parts in contrary motion have all their intervals
> coming from the whole-tone scale, so no fifths, fourths, minor
> thirds, or major sixths. thus the adaptive tuning collapses to
> meantone, with 25:16 for those delicious augmented fifths . . .

How would you propose using this information to help the average choir director tune up the
average choir?

Kind Regards
a.m.

--- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
>
>
> wallyesterpaulrus wrote:
>
> well, the beginning looks like adaptive ji, say vicentino's, would
>
> > work great. the parts in contrary motion have all their intervals
> > coming from the whole-tone scale, so no fifths, fourths, minor
> > thirds, or major sixths. thus the adaptive tuning collapses to
> > meantone, with 25:16 for those delicious augmented fifths . . .
>
> How would you propose using this information to help the average
choir director tune up the
> average choir?
>
> Kind Regards
> a.m.

instead of using a piano tuned in 12-tone equal temperament to train
the choir, use a piano or harpsichord tuned in 1/4-comma meantone!
(i'll have to look again to see if there are any enharmonic
equivalences in the score; these would pose a bit of a problem for
this suggestion unless you have a harpsichord with split keys). then,
in achieving perfectly just sonorities (by eliminating beats, etc.),
the singers would never have to deviate by a melodically perceptible
amount from this reference!!!

wallyesterpaulrus wrote:

> --- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > wallyesterpaulrus wrote:
> >
> > well, the beginning looks like adaptive ji, say vicentino's, would
> >
> > > work great. the parts in contrary motion have all their intervals
> > > coming from the whole-tone scale, so no fifths, fourths, minor
> > > thirds, or major sixths. thus the adaptive tuning collapses to
> > > meantone, with 25:16 for those delicious augmented fifths . . .
> >
> > How would you propose using this information to help the average
> choir director tune up the
> > average choir?
> >
> > Kind Regards
> > a.m.
>
> instead of using a piano tuned in 12-tone equal temperament to train
> the choir, use a piano or harpsichord tuned in 1/4-comma meantone!
> (i'll have to look again to see if there are any enharmonic
> equivalences in the score; these would pose a bit of a problem for
> this suggestion unless you have a harpsichord with split keys). then,
> in achieving perfectly just sonorities (by eliminating beats, etc.),
> the singers would never have to deviate by a melodically perceptible
> amount from this reference!!!

I work either a cappella or with an organist for accompaniment. This is probably much the same
around the choral scene everywhere, adding piano as a possibility. The chances of having a piano
retuned are nil, though a retunable electronic one is a possibility.

Regards
a.m.

--- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
>
>
> wallyesterpaulrus wrote:
>
> > --- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > wallyesterpaulrus wrote:
> > >
> > > well, the beginning looks like adaptive ji, say vicentino's,
would
> > >
> > > > work great. the parts in contrary motion have all their
intervals
> > > > coming from the whole-tone scale, so no fifths, fourths, minor
> > > > thirds, or major sixths. thus the adaptive tuning collapses to
> > > > meantone, with 25:16 for those delicious augmented
fifths . . .
> > >
> > > How would you propose using this information to help the average
> > choir director tune up the
> > > average choir?
> > >
> > > Kind Regards
> > > a.m.
> >
> > instead of using a piano tuned in 12-tone equal temperament to
train
> > the choir, use a piano or harpsichord tuned in 1/4-comma meantone!
> > (i'll have to look again to see if there are any enharmonic
> > equivalences in the score; these would pose a bit of a problem for
> > this suggestion unless you have a harpsichord with split keys).
then,
> > in achieving perfectly just sonorities (by eliminating beats,
etc.),
> > the singers would never have to deviate by a melodically
perceptible
> > amount from this reference!!!
>
> I work either a cappella or with an organist for accompaniment.

any meantone organs in your neighborhood? there are hundreds of them
out there, not sure if any are close to you . . .

> This is probably much the same
> around the choral scene everywhere, adding piano as a possibility.
>The chances of having a piano
> retuned are nil, though a retunable electronic one is a possibility.

why not retune a piano yourself?

anyway, i looked at the score, and this is eminently workable
(whether you use an electronic organ or a piano). you need to tune a
meantone chain from Ab to F#; there is no C# or Db in the score, so
you're free to tune that key as you wish. as an added bonus, the
prominent Ab - F# augmented sixths in the score form a beautiful 7:4
interval in meantone tuning!

the score *did* indicate a piano part for training purposes, which is
why this was the first thing to come to my mind . . .