Davitt's post should be required reading for all continuo players. I am
going to print it out, and paste to every wall above a harpsichord here at
the Jacobs School of Music.

On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 1:32 PM, Bruce Jacobs <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thank you, friends.
>
> With a bit of trepidation, in line with David's suggestion, last night I
> left out the D#'s, allowing singers and unfretted strings and winds to
> carry the major third. It worked! Thanks for the encouragement!
>
> We have the pleasure of Bruce Dickey as lead cornetto. And our "three
> tenors" are astounding. It will be a fun weekend.
>
> Bruce
>
> On 5/9/17, 8:22 PM, "Harpsichords and Related Topics on behalf of Keith
> Womer" <[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>     On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 5:55 PM, Davitt MORONEY <[log in to unmask]>
>     wrote:
>
>     > The thing that often seems to be left out of discussions about
> temperament
>     > is how the continuo player reacts at the keyboard in terms of
> voicing the
>     > chords.
>     >
>
>     ​I have used Davitt's techniques for dealing with a non split-sharp
>     instrument in performance using meantone temperamant. It works as well
> as
>     possible, but give me split sharps any day. The right tool for the job
> sort
>     of thing.
>
>     One of my harpsichords is an early 17th century Italian by Owen Daly.
> It
>      has two split sharps per octave and a short octave bass.  Single
> strung,
>     p-wire, quill, incredible projection for its size - what a beauty!
> I'll be
>     using it for Monteverdi Vespers this week in fact, for which it is
> ideal.
>
>     One other workaround I have used for the Vespers for a non-split sharp
>     instrument is to tune one of the E-flats to D-sharp (I tune D#-2).  As
>     Davitt notes, when not the root of the chord, the tenor E-flat is not
>     horrible when used as D#, but it is still annoying if there is also a
> lower
>     string in the continuo group.  Otherwise using the D#-2 is good if you
> can
>     maneuver your realization up there as necessary.
>
>     It is unlikely any of this was necessary for Monteverdi's organist, as
> the
>     organs around there had split sharps (and were Italian instruments with
>     soft principals, not flutes, as a foundation.)  For Monteverdi's
> Vespers at
>     least, I find our charming 8'4'2' flute chamber instruments to be a
> weak
>     approximation for what is called for by Monteverdi.
>
>     BTW, another problematic work for me is Dido and Aeneas, where one aria
>     throws a spanner into an otherwise straightforward meantone-based
>     accompaniment on a non-split sharp instrument.  Wish I could ask
> Purcell
>     about it.
>
>     Keith Womer
>
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Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
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