> Lee wrote: As to P’s preferred ways of tempering either instrument, by
the late 17th C. ... well-tempered schemes were known and probably being put
into use in his part of Germany. (I know I’m out on a very shaky limb in
saying this, since I don’t have any of my usual references at hand.)
Dear Lee, long ago I read all the references I could find about Pachelbel's
temperament and every one was just a few lines worth of comments. So I did
my own analysis a few years ago: it can be found in my book on temperaments,
4th ed., p. 460, from which I am glad to share my conclusions, which are
possibly not less "shaky" than yours:
"Although most of the keyboard works by Johann Pachelbel (Nuremberg
1635-1706) are playable in Meantone temperament, quite a few are not,
remarkably some of his Suites published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1901, based
mainly on a now lost manuscript dated 1683. ... (an analysis of the 19
suites grouped by use of sharps and major thirds follows).
Meantone with the usual fifth at G#-Eb will not do for the remaining twelve
suites. Of these, four require contradictory wolf shifts ... a problem,
because there is no historical evidence whatsoever of Baroque musicians
performing this kind of retunings just to be able to play a few short
suites. The explanation to this dilemma can be deduced from the remaining
eight suites: ... for Four suites ... no wolf shift makes sense, and even a
17-note enharmonic keyboard ... will not help. Finally the remaining two
suites score ... some double flats ...
Pachelbel ... lived for a time in Vienna, where the earlier Froberger
generation had been exploring Equal Temperament. However, these suites only
seldom use the extreme modulations: this is clear evidence that they were
conceived for a circular but unequal temperament. ...
Also significant is that there are a few further works by Pachelbel, also
composed in or before 1683, which require a circular temperament as well,
for example “Alle Menschen muessen sterben”, a chorale with eight
variations. Since all these works predate Werckmeister's first publication
devoted to temperament (1691), they are evidence of a pioneer proposal and
use of a circular temperament in German lands. Thus either Pachelbel was
himself a pioneer, or his work reflects local advances (unfortunately not
documented in extant sources) in Saxony, where he lived from 1677 to 1690.
Best
CDV
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