Hello Michael,
I am merely discussing the wrong picture created by oftentimes sweeping
statements  endlessly repeated about early keyboard practice - which serve
only to confuse and confound many 'liebhaber' - as we often see on this
list.

Of course, as you say, 415 Hz is a useful compromise.
(As an aside, the human tympanum cannot discern any fractional vibrations
outside a full cycle like 0.3 etc.).Yet it says nothing about the real
pitch(es) that were actually used, and is always seen as a mark of
'authenticity', despite the fact that many pitches both much higher and
much lower were used during the baroque period.

Likewise, many people repeatedly state the thumb was barely used, if at
all, in early keyboard music, and they try to play without ever using it as
an attempt at 'authentic' practice. Yet this too is a non-authentic
compromise derived from simplicity of approach.

Neither standpoint is really historic; they are merely convenient
falsifications of the reality.
That is all I am saying.

Cheers
Theoodore

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