On Wed, 23 Nov 1994, robert john utterback wrote:
 
> Doesn't the whole notion of selecting the "proper" temperament for a
> piece written in F# minor defeat one of the most important reasons for
> choosing unequal temperament in the first place, namely, to highlight the
> uniqueness of each tonal center by giving it a particular sonority?  In
> other words, why didn't Bach simply keep the C#-major prelude (WTC I) in
> C major?  Or better yet, why not transpose the C-major prelude up a half
> step?  We know from internal evidence (Barnes, Early Music, 1979) that
> Bach factored the wideness of the major thirds into the compositional
> processes for these pieces.  Is the F#-minor toccata, written earlier in
> Bach's career, an altogether different situation?  I, for one, find
> nothing "musically inappropriate" with a straight Werckmeister tuning for
> this piece, and do not mind the Pythagorean thirds (F#-A#, C#-E#) which
> obtain.  But, then again, understand that I once performed the B-minor
> Wuerttemberg sonata -- in temperament ordinaire!
 
And, what about the "French Overture," which was written in C-Minor,
but published in B-Minor, and is now performed in both?  Isn't there
a difference in the 'feel' of those two keys?  (But, if there is a
different feel to the two keys, and if the story about Bach's allowing
it to be published in B-Minor is correct, didn't Bach care?)
 
Varda