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Date: | Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:34:36 -0400 |
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"Fred in Toronto" asked:
>>I have been hiding behind my ignorance for a bit on this thread - I
>>don't understand the usage of the term "comma" (I hope I am not alone
>>in this)
>>
>>I have found this all enlightening and instructive. I have been
>>wondering however why there have been so many temperaments developed
>>over time. This would explain why Bach sounds good on some organs
and >>not on others. Does anyone have an idea of the temperaments of
his >>organs? I know he played on a number of them and am wondering if
this >>may have had an influence on his writing.
In that regard, the best book currently known to me is Johan Norrback's
2002 book: _A Passable and Good Temperament. A New Methodology for
Studying Tuning and Temperament in Organ Music_. Info:
http://www.music.qub.ac.uk/tomita/bachbib/review/bb-review_Norrback-PGTemp.html
But, my own articles since 2004 have offered the inference of a somewhat
different temperament style that I believe may have been Bach's own, and
graphically notated by him. Details:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/outline.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/art.html
At the very least, whether there is agreement with my hypotheses or not,
the first several pages of my February 2005 portion will supply the
necessary background to understand tuning "commas", etc.!
As for why Bach "sounds good on some organs and not on others", I
believe it is tied mostly to the smooth handling of enharmonic swaps
(such as Ab/G#, F/E#, etc) wherever they appear in the music. Some
temperaments do better at that than others. That technical point is
measured and explained in my May 2005 portion, and in the follow-up
article there about clavichords....
Bradley Lehman
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