adaptive retuning

[John A. deLaubenfels:]
>Even in its infant state, the game of adaptive retuning has drawn
some posts of delight; one list member even referred to having a deep
spiritual experience.

[Kraig Grady:]
>this is probably a result of the tuning over the composition.

[John:]
And the problem with that would be... ?

I think a large part of the objections that I'm seeing in this thread
are ones which center on a fidelity (or I guess in this case, a lack
thereof) to the contextual checks and balances of the structural
(tuning) paradigms that these pieces where originally conceived in...
Overemphasizing the "sweetness" of vertical sonorities (while perhaps
extremely pleasing to some) can really through a wrench into the more
subtle inner workings of these pieces... As a very simple example I'd
say that if a 4:5:6:7 doesn't setup a sense of resolution in the
intended (or perhaps even expected) way, then a structural fidelity
(and certainly some will say much more than just a "structural
fidelity") to the original conception has been altered - and some will
argue very much "compromised."{1}

For some, these kinds of changes are either all for the better, or
just not all that readily apparent (or just don't call any attention
to themselves in a negative way)... but for others, these types of
"indiscretions" can be aesthetically -- and sometimes ideologically --
very bothersome... and I can understand that. Personally, I think
you'd have very few objections if you were using your own pieces...
but I'm actually all for what your doing as a way to learn what can be
learned... as developing experimentation and ongoing study... But I
guess that I'd also say that I would think that a part of that
"ongoing study" would probably have to involve the fielding and
cogitating of the types of objections your seeing.

good luck,
Dan

____________________
{1} I think Paul Erlich made some excellent points (I'm sure others
have as well, but this bit of his really stuck in my mind) along these
lines when he wrote, "dissonant additions to chords in common-practice
harmony are best analyzed in terms of their _linear_ function; that
is, they acquire their musical meaning through their _melodic_ or
_contrapuntal_ role as anticipations, suspensions, or (often the case
with sevenths, flat ninths, or secondary leading tones) by supplying
the classic tritone resolution" (etc.).