Sebastian M. Gluck wrote:

>     Was there not recently found a well-tempered tuning system (and some 
>methodology for achieving it) in Bach's own hand?
>     I would also think that in light of the content of the WTK, both 
>composer and performer would strive for the LEAST jarring temperament.
>
I was once in a lecture on the WTK (don't remember who was giving it, 
darn it), but I do remember the quote from Kirnberger that Bach would 
retune his harpsichord very quickly in the course of a performance. This 
was taken to mean that Bach probably did not stick with a single 
temperament for every piece, but would make small adjustments to get the 
best effect. Well-tempered then might have been favored because it 
allowed for the least retuning to use the most keys. I thought it was an 
arresting idea, actually.

Has anyone thought about this? It puts the entire argument about who 
favored what into a very different light, and, I think, assumes (unlike 
an awful lot of these discussions) that they were topnotch musicians 
trying to find a good, practical solution to a vexing problem of their 
craft, rather than staking out a theoretical position and slavishly 
sticking to it.



Jeff G

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