Bach era tunings

Well, I sure enjoy the ongoing discussion of Bach and the possible tunings he used/didn't use. So, after doing a bit more research, I've found evidence of a few more controversial tunings, that may or may not have been in use in Bach's time. First, there was "Jerckmeister;" reportedly, this meantone tuning was used by French clavier players, and may well have been the reason behind Louis Marchand's ("The Great") sudden flight from Dresden, when he was supposed to have a cutting contest with Bach. He knew his inferior tuning couldn't compare with the more sophisticated German well temps that Bach was using, so he split town rather than lose face. At a victory celebration that night in a local inn, Bach was overheard to have said to his friends,"The Jerck couldn't hang with the Werck;" in German, it of course sounded a bit different.

And speaking of inns, just occasionally Bach (or maybe other German clavier players as well) would, perhaps, partake of the stout German ale just a little too much; if they tried to tune their keyboards afterwards, they referred to the resulting tuning as "Jaegermeister." Perhaps this tuning is why the Arnstadt town fathers thought Bach's church preludes were a bit strange at times, saying he "made many curious variationes in the chorale," which confused the worshipers; he also "mingled many strange tones in it." I think that says it all right there...

And lastly, there was the tuning known as "Dikkmeister" (or, in the common tongue, "Weinermeister"). It was hard to get reliable info on this tuning, but reportedly it was used on the clavier at the court of Augustus the Strong, and it was whispered that the music made in this tuning was partly responsible for Augustus having 353 illegitimate children (some of who later became his mistresses). Must have been some pretty wide 5ths in that one...

It wouldn't surprise me at all if more tunings of this era come to light at a later date...and God only knows what they used in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and England...best...Hstick
myspace.com/microstick