You wrote:
 
>
>I have been extremely pleased with an electronic tuner made by Widener
>Engineering, in Austin Texas (203 Westbrook Drive, Austin, TX  78746).
>Every imaginable temperament is available -  each is on a standard IBM
>card - at modern or baroque pitch (the device allows further pitch
>modification)....
>
>
>Alfred O. Berg, MD, MPH
>
>
Thanks for your communication, Dr Berg.
 
The Wideners have been around for a long time, and are commendable for
their flexibility and "custom temperament" potential.
 
Please don't mistake me, electronic aids are a boon to thousands of
players and performers, and their use is infinitely preferable to bad
tuning by ear.  I have a small Korg that I use when tuning my Steinway
(Don't tell anyone about the Korg... or the Steinway!) because after
years and years and thousands of Steinways, I loath the experience of
tuning one.  I am permanently burned out on that one!
 
When it comes to my harpsichords, however, it's a different matter. I
enjoy tuning them immensely (I also care for all of Alan Curtis'
instruments), because I can hear precisely what is going on inside each
temperament, I can vary it, control it, contour it to fit exactly the
requirements of the music.
 
This also means that I hear the music in a different way than most
people, especially music from before c.1730, when the spicier meantone
variants were phased out.  How do I know that?  It's in the music.  You
cannot play later music on WErckmeister I, for example; the dissonance
is nearly random and excruciating.  But Bach toccatas? Partitas? Oh boy!
 
The reason I rant so is the same reason I constantly encourage
harpsichordists, especially amateurs, to engage witht he struggle to
gain some mastery over setting their own temperaments.  The rewards are
tremendous.
 
End of sermon.
 
With best regards,
 
Joseph Spencer