B Haynes Beyond Temperament PDF

Beyond Temperament: Non-Keyboard Intonation in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Author(s): Bruce Haynes

Source: Early Music, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Aug., 1991), pp. 356-365+367-370+372-381
Published by: Oxford University Press
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Bruce Haynes
Beyond temperament: non-keyboard

intonation in the 17th and 18th centuries
Mysystemis notbasedon anykeyboard temperament; rather, middle of the 15th century in response to the need for
it displaysthe soundsfoundon unrestrictedinstruments
like better 3rds. Mean-tone favours 3rds: in order to get them
the cello,violinetc,thatcanplaypurelyin tune ... low enough, the 5ths must suffer by being tuned small.6
(Georg Philipp Telemann,'Neues musicalischesSystem', Because of its one great advantage, practicality, equal
1743/4)
temperament had some adherents even in the 18th cen-
'Temperaments'are closed systems designed to help tury and before, but the attitude of one writer of the time
make the intonation of instruments with immovable was probably typical: it produced, he wrote, a 'harmony
pitch (like the organ and harpsichord)convincing. But extremely coarse and disagreeble'.7Sauveur in 1707 said
singers and players of stringed and wind instruments equal temperament 'is used [only] among the least able
have no such limitations-'temperament' is too rigid a instrumentalists, because it is simple and easy'.8
concept to apply to them. By contrast, the most common tuning of the time was
Since keyboardtemperamentshavebeen studied and described by a number of writers, including Telemann
discussed for some time,1it seems odd that the inton- and Quantz, and was engagingly summarized by the
ation of singersand orchestralinstrumentshas had very singer and musical theorist Pier Francesco Tosi, who
little attention.2It is a subjectthatis much harderto treat wrote in 1723:
quantitatively,as it dependsso much on context.Playing Everyoneknows that there is a Semitone Major and Minor,
'in tune' is a relativeand verypersonalaffair,and no set because the Difference cannot be known [i.e. played] by an
of rules or abstractions from practice can possibly Organ or Harpsichord,if the Keysof the Instrumentare not
encompassits complexities,or substitutefor an alertear split. A Tone, that graduallypasses to another,is divided into
and a willing spirit. But certainbasic assumptionsof a nine almost imperceptibleIntervals,which are called Com-
singer or violinist in the 17th and 18th centuries con- ma's,five of which constitutethe SemitoneMajor,and four the
Minor.... If one were continuallyto sing only to those above-
cerning intonation were quite differentfrom ours, and
an understandingof them is not only usefulin everyday mention'd Instruments [the organ and harpsichord], this
ensemble work, but adds an unexploredexpressiveele- Knowledge might be unnecessary;but since the time that
ment to Baroqueand Classicalperformance.Ultimately, Composers introduced the Custom of crowding the Opera's
with a vast Number of Songs accompaniedwith Bow Instru-
using the available historical information, early ments, it becomes so necessary,that if a Sopranowas to sing
musicians must work out this question for themselves.3 D-sharp, like E-flat, a nice Ear will find he is out of Tune,
The appendixto this articlethereforepresentsextensive becausethis last rises.Whoeveris not satisfiedin this, let him
extractsfrom originalsourceson non-keyboardtuning.4 readthose Authorswho treatof it, and let him consult the best
Performerson the Violin.9
Historic expedients to the tuning problem Among Quantz's many comments on tuning, he
It is a troublesome physical fact that it is not possible, explained that
either in theory or practice,to combine both pure 5ths What led me to add another key not previouslyused on the
and pure major3rds in the same tuning system.A series flute was the differencebetween major and minor semitones.
of four pure 5ths placed above each other (for instance, ... The majorsemitonehas five commas,the minor only four.
For this reason, Eb must be a comma higher than D#.
C-G, G-D, D-A, A-E) will produce a major3rd (C-E)
considerablywiderthan pure.This is calledPythagorean From our perspective in the late 20othcentury, we are
tuning, a tuning commonly used in the MiddleAges;the introduced here to two rather startling concepts:
5ths are pure, which means the 3rds are large-larger 1 the existenceof majorand minor semitones(a D# different
even than in equal temperament.'A different system, from an Eb, for instance);
mean-tone temperament, became common by the 2 the possibility,therefore,that on some notes the harpsi-
EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 357

wr:
Irer
jr
iIlk
i The musical amateurs(1755). Oil painting by Julius Quinkhard(Amsterdam,Rijksmuseum)
356 EARLYMUSIC AUGUST 1991

chord or organmightbe tuned differentlythan the other comma higherthan sharps.This saysnothing about the
membersof an instrumental ensemble. naturals;it implies a generalsystem but does not indi-
A system that differentiates between half-steps, cate any specifictemperament.
accordingto their harmonic function, suggests refine- Quantz wrote:
ments unknown to our ears, which have grown accus-
tomed to a mere 12 notes to the octave. But as far as ... the otherinstrumentsplay [the notes] in theircorrect
ratios,whereason theharpsichordtheyaremerelytempered.
Quantzwas concernedin 1752,
Appreciation of [thisdifferencebetweenflatsand sharps]is 'Merelytempered'is the key phrasehere. If we use both
neededby anyonewhowantsto developa refined,exactand D$ and Eb, G# and Ab, etc., we will need more than 12
accurateearin music. notes in an octave. These different enharmonics are
Modernplayersusuallyraisesharpsand lowerflatsto availablefor the singeror violinist,who is able to adjust
enhancetheirmelodic function as leading,or 'tendency' intonation while performing, but keyboard players
notes. This practicehas its roots at the beginningof the (unlessthey haveinstrumentswith split keys) areforced
Romanticperiod with the rise of equal temperament,"' to resortto complicatedsystemsof temperament.
and is the reverseof the normal practice of 17th- and 'Temperament'in this sense means 'compromise',an
18th-centurymusicians, for whom leading notes were expedientthat attemptsto makethe best of the fact that
low. Our contemporarypreoccupationwith melody is only one note can be playedwhen two are needed.13 It is
apparentlyrecent;a strongerharmonicorientationand an artificethat gives the illusion that a keyboardinstru-
more 'vertical'awarenessnaturallytended to favourthe ment is as well in tune as the other instrumentswhen
pure major3rd (whichis much smallerthan the beating, playedby musicianswith the 'refined,exactand accurate
unresonantequal-temperedone). ear' of Quantz'stime.
The pure 3rd is an intervalthat is both naturaland For non-keyboard instruments, in fact, 'temper-
very satisfying to play, and, indeed, most modern ament' is not even possible. Without a fixed tuning,
musiciansseem to gravitatetowardsit, especiallystring intonation is influenced by technical situations, sub-
playerstuning to their open strings. But pure 5ths are jectiveperceptions,even differencesin dynamics.'4Play-
even easierand yet more temptingto tune on a stringed ers of such instruments are incapable (even if they
instrument.Since the end of the 18thcentury,therefore, wanted it) of the level of consistency in intonation
5thshave usuallywon out over 3rdsin stringintonation implied by a temperament.'5
But although they are not bound by any closed
(comparethe Pythagoreansystem,with its perfect 5ths
and high 3rds)." Rameau(1737),Quantz (1752,chap.17/ system, it would still be useful to see how original
vii/4) and Sorge (1744,p.53) indicated that some vio- descriptionsof theirtuning might be roughlyfittedinto
linists in their day were also inclined to pure 5ths (see a keyboardsystem, since they normally perform with
appendixfor thesetexts),but they consideredthis a mis- harpischordsor organs. A keyboardtemperamentcan
take and associated it with poorer players." They also operate as a frame of reference or model, from
reasonedthat a violin tuned to perfect5thswould be out which singers and playersof instrumentswith flexible
of tune with the harpsichordor organ, but the deeper intonation can occasionallydepartin the context of the
moment. Ideally,a 'synergetic'relationshipwill exist, in
implication was that it would also be unsuited to the
which the keyboardis first temperedas closely as poss-
generalintonation system of the period. As John Hind
Chesnutwrote (p.271): ible to the physical and musical needs of the other
Modernintonationpractice... is not appropriate instruments, who in their turn refer back to it for
if ourgoal
is to playMozart'smusicas he himselfwantedit played.The guidance.
quasi-Pythagorean 'expressive'or 'functional'intonationof By definition,we can deducethat a tuning that distin-
19th-and20th-century non-keyboard instruments guishesbetween enharmonicpairs,with sharpsbeing a
is particu-
larlyforeignto the traditionin whichMozartstood. comma lower than flats, does not resembleeither equal
temperament or the Pythagorean system (in which
Tempering and 'intoning justly' sharpsarehigherthan flats).If it is a systemat all,it must
We are not dealing here with a closed tuning system be closer to either just intonation or some form of
based on a circle of 5ths like a keyboardtemperament. mean-tone.
Sources discussing non-keyboard intonation usually Just intonation 'has alwayshad a kind of fatal fas-
only expressed the general principle that flats were a cination for musiciansbecause of the purity within the
358 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

basic scale of the tonic, subdominant, and dominant musicians were so unconscious of alternativesto a
chords, and of certain melodic intervals'16 that can be systemthat included majorand minor semitonesthat it
easilytuned to the open strings.Some early violin tutors had no name at all.26
indicate the use of a kind of just intonation, flexibly Among the more interesting descriptions of non-
applied in a limited way (see appendix Rameau (1726) keyboardtuning are those by Telemann and Quantz.
and Tartini(1754,pp.oo-lol).'7 But just intonation is a Sorge (1748,p.61) said that Telemann'stuning system
kind of 'holy grail'that is impossibleto apply continu- 'cannotbe appliedto a keyboardinstrument,but it may
ously,'8although ingenious attempts at it have been be rather convenient for the fiddle and certain wind
made.'9As Barbourput it,20 instruments,and is the easiest for singers'.Chesnut has
Thebulkof theviolinists[in c.1730] wereprobablystillaccus- pointed out that Mozart also apparentlydistinguished
tomedto the justthirdsandgreatlyflattenedfifthsof mean- the small and large half steps of a mean-tone temper-
tonetemperament. ament similar to /6-comma.27 Major and minor semi-
The line between just and mean-tone need not, of tones were discussed as late as 1813.28
course,be strictlydrawnon instrumentswhose tuning is In his 1707 MWthode(p.2o6), Sauveur classes instru-
not fixed."Some string playersbegin with open strings ments accordingto theirabilityto altertheir intonation:
tuned to somewhat narrow 5ths and tune intervals the voice and violin are in a class in which accurate
purely to the open strings. Wind players,too, tend to intonation depends entirely on the ear, while the key-
adjustlong notes purely.Of any consistent system, this boards are in one where no control is possible during
tuning most resembles'/4-comma'mean-tone ('mean- playing. The woodwinds fall in an intermediateclass,
tone' in its strictestsense), in which 3rds are pure (as in and are among instruments
just intonation) and 5ths are smaller than pure by a ... onwhichthepitchis governed
byprojections, toneholesor
quarterof the syntonic comma. butthatcanbe nevertheless
touchpieces, corrected bya sensi-
But the difference between enharmonic pairs in tive ear.29
/4-commamean-tone is much greaterthan that speci- A numberof woodwind fingeringchartsfrom the end
fied by early sources (41 cents as opposed to 22).2 The of the 17thto the end of the 18thcenturyconfirmthe use
consistentuse of /4-commamean-tone is not, therefore, of higher pitches for flats and lower for synonymous
what they describe. Georg Muffat (1698) even warned sharps, although the exact difference is not specified.
violinists to resist the temptation to play leading notes Recorder charts are the most informative, since the
too low (sic). instrument'sinflexibleblowingtechniquerequiresalter-
Tosi said that 'a Tone ... is divided into nine ... native fingeringsfor correctingintonation. Among the
Intervals,which are called Comma's,five of which con- many fingering charts that appeared for the recorder
stitute the Semitone Major,and four the Minor.' (The from 1630 to 1795, the earliest often choose only one of
comma' referredto here is just under 22 cents wide.)23 the two enharmonicpairs.30By 1700completechromatic
An example of a major semitone would be C-Db, a charts began to appear that distinguished most pairs,
minor would be C-C#. Sincethe firstis five commas and especiallythe d•'leb'. The most interestingchartswere
the second four, the difference between them is one those by Johann Christian Schickhardt (c.1720), which
comma. distinguished gI"/ab",31and Thomas Stanesby Jr (c.1732),
An octave, as FrancescoGeminaniwrote in 1751,can that distinguishedeverychromaticnote.32
be divided'into 12Semitones,that is, 7 of the greaterand To a lesser extent, traverso charts also offer useful
5 of the lesser'.Since the seven 'greater'or major semi- information; Quantz's additional key indicates that
tones each contain five commas and the five 'lesser'have tuning correctionswere more limited on the traverso
four, the octave will consist of a total of 55 commas, or than on the double-reed instruments (to which such
parts. The 55-partoctave, as the sources quoted in the keys were never added).33
appendix show, was a familiarconcept in the 17thand Although embouchureadjustmentsmake the oboe's
18thcenturies.24 it correspondsto a temperamentknown intonation relativelyflexible,most oboe chartsindicate
now as '/6-commamean-tone'.25 alternatefingeringsfor some sharpsand flats, from the
earliest existing chart (Bismantova,1688)34to at least
Written sources 1816 (Whitely).35The synonymous pairs that are given
The term 'mean-tone'was not used in the 18thcentury; the most alternatefingeringsare the 'left-hand' notes
in fact, like many commonly accepted assumptions, G4/Ab and A$/Bb (illus.l and 2). The development of

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double holes on the oboe and recorderhas an obvious C
+5 cents
application for 'intoning' enharmonic pairs. On both C# -8 Db +14
instruments they affect the most ambiguous pair, D +1
G#-Ab.36 D~ -11 Eb +10
Bassoon fingering charts also distinguished enhar- E -2
monic pairs.37Towardsthe end of the century,however, F +7
keys began to be added whose purpose may have par- F$ -6 Gb +16
tially been to obscure these distinctions.38 G +3
G~ -10 Ab +12
Regularversusirregulartemperaments A 0
As Telemannwroteof his tuningsystem(1743/4),'It estab- A# -13 Bb +9
lishes a continuousproportionalequalitybetweeninter- B -4
vals .. .' This implies something similar to a standard C +5
'regular'mean-tone temperament,defined by Barbour
as one 'in which all the fifthssaveone arethe same size'.39 Although a regular temperament might have been
An interestingattributeof 'regular'mean-tones is the useful for the keyboardinstruments,it is unlikely that
ease with which standardtranspositionscan be made, other instrumentalistsand singersadheredstrictlyto it,
since intervalsare identicalin strategickeys. This would since the 3rds and 5ths would never have been comp-
explain how German composers like Bach and Tele- letely pure. Irregularmean-tone systems,which favour
mann were able to function in mean-tone while using selectedkeysat the expenseof others,wereno doubt also
Chor-Ton and Cammer-Tonsimultaneously.40'Trans- used together with non-keyboardinstruments.48There
posing' instruments were a part of life for German are clear expressive advantages to these tunings, in
musiciansat this time. Partsfor transposinginstruments which modulations are more colourful.
were notated in differentkeys from the majorityof the But no system, regularor irregular,could possibly
parts, because they were 'pitched' differently (being have been appliedrigidlyon the flexiblypitched instru-
tuned to Chor-ton/Cammer-Ton). The 'd'amore'instruments. The regular55-partoctave was no more than a
ments and the violino piccolo also had transposedparts.41 convenienttheoreticalframework,and it can be used to
It is obvious that, however notes are notated or fin- advantage by present-day musicians with either a
gered, they should be at the same frequencyfor all the similarlytuned keyboardinsturmentor one tuned in an
instrumentsof an ensemble. But the differencesin key irregulartemperamentsuch as the well-known 'Werck-
among transposing instruments were always either a meister III' or 'Temperamentordinaire'.
major2nd or a minor 3rd.Sincein a regularmean-tone,
parallel scales a major 2nd or minor 3rd apart would Reconciling the keyboard to the other instruments
normally be inflected identically,42their notes would Discussingintonation, HubertLeBlanc(p.55)commen-
have corresponded closely.43Mean-tone tuning will ted that:
thereforework with transposinginstruments,as long as The divineartistryof Mr Blavetconsistsin adjusting[the
the keyboardinstruments in such music are tuned in tuningof his]fluteby hismannerof blowing.Butstudentsof
regular(ratherthan irregular)temperaments.44 the harpsichord praisethe instrumentfor its intonation,not
A model based on a regulartemperamentis relatively perceivingthatit is in factnevertrulyin tune.
simple and easy to remember.45 Let us take /6-comma It is naturalto referto the keyboardinstrumentwhen
mean-tone as an example. Since most musicians now- intonation questionsarisein an ensemble,since it is the
adays use a Korg or similar tuning machine, the fol- only instrumentwith a fixed pitch. But fixed pitch has
lowing table shows whereits notes areplacedin relation the defect of its virtue: when the music changes and
to equal temperament.46 demands tuning modifications, the keyboard cannot
As flattenednotes become more distantfrom C, they adapt as the other instruments can. It is a case of the
become gradually higher, whereas sharpened notes immovable object and the irresistibleforce. There is
become lower. The note Bb, for instance, is 9 cents little sense, for instance,in tuning the G$ of a flute to a
higher than in equal temperament,Eb 10 cents, Ab 12 harpsichordwith an Ab.
cents etc. Going in the other direction,F$is 6 cents low, A number of sources (among them Sauveur,Tosi,
C# 8 cents, G# 10 cents, D# 11cents etc.47 Quantz,Telemann,Tartini,Sorgeand Mozart)accepted

the fact that keyboardsused differentsystemsof tuning within the frameworkof a regularmean-tone system.57
from other instruments.49There are suggestions as to The latter compromise (which is necessarily rather
how the problem was solved. Huygens,Rameau (1726) colourlessin character)might look on a Korgtuner like
and Sorge (1744, P-53;1758) all assumed that the melody this:
instrumentsshould conform to the keyboard.On the
other hand, Rameau (1737), Rousseau (1743) and de C +5 cents
Bdthizeyconsideredit self-evidentthat (exceptfor uni- C# -8
son notes and finaltonics) singerspurposelyignoredthe D +1
temperament of the accompanying instruments. D?/Eb 0
Quantz (1752, chap.17/vi/20o) proposed a more diplo- E -2
matic solution in which the fixed-pitchinstrumentalso F +7
adaptedto the other instruments. F# -6
In larger settings such as orchestras, a keyboard G +3
instrumentis considerablyless audible than the treble G#/Ab +1
melody instruments.In the case of the harpsichord,the A 0
sound dies away quickly,while pure intervalsare sus- Bb +9
tained by the other treble and bass instruments. De B -4
B&thizey and Quantz (1752, chap.16/7) suggest that
C +5
singersand other playerswould thus do betterto adjust
to the violins and oboes rather than the harpsichord This scale is based on '/6-comma mean-tone; C#, F$ and
Bb plus all the diatonic notes are left in their normal
(compare also Tosi above).o5 The problem is more acute
for the otherbass instruments,since they usuallyplayin places (see previous table), and the differencebetween
unison with a harpsichord or organ.5 There are a the two ambiguousflat/sharpsis split.
number of possible solutions. Some practical considerations
The idea of a harpsichordor organwith splitkeyswas
Quantzgavesome adviceon practisingintonation (1752,
mentioned by Tosi and Quantz;something similarwas
chap.17/vii/8). He advised (as did Leopold Mozart) the
apparentlyused by Handel." With both D$/Eb and use of a monochord to
players of melodic instruments.8
G$/Ab, the keyboardwould have good major triads as The best manner of
faras B and Ab major,makingit possibleto ventureinto escape from [poor intonation] is the
monochord, on which one can clearlylearnthe intervals.Every
tonalities with as many as four sharps or flats and still
singerand instrumentalistshouldbecome familiarwith its use.
keep the thirds relativelypure.53For continuo playing, Theywould therebylearnto recognizeminor semitonesmuch
therefore,split keys clearlyhave a use.54 earlieras well as the factthatnotes markedwith a flatmust be a
Barbour (1951,p.191) suggests that, when key changes comma higherthan those with a sharpin front of them. With-
were limited, it was a historic practiceto retune unsplit out these insightsone is obliged to depend entirelyon the ear,
keyboard accidentals during a programme. It takes which can however deceive one at times. Knowledgeof the
about as long to changea D# to an Eb on a harpsichord monochord is requiredespeciallyof playersof the violin and
as to tune a section of violins." other stringed instruments, on which one cannot use the
Another solution is to use two harpsichords,one placementof the fingersas an exact guide, as one can on wind
tuned (for instance) to sharps and the other to flats. instruments.
Alternatively,one two-manualharpsichordcan be used In our time, we can add that we have all grown up in a
in this way.56 prevailing atmosphere of approximate equal temper-
Where frequent choices between enharmonics are ament, making the help of a reference beyond our ears
necessary (i.e. when a wide range of keys cannot be even more necessary.Thereis a 'blackbox' on the market
avoided), another approach is suggested by several that functions much like a monochord;it is designedto
sources. Quantz's 'good temperament which allows play in any temperamentthe user wishes."9
either [synonymous flat/sharp] to be endurable' and A playerusing mean-tone as a model is theoretically
Telemann'senharmonicpairsthat are'blendedtogether' expectedto have alternateflats and sharpsavailablefor
on keyboardinstruments(1767)imply either the use of every note, but in practice some accidentalsare rarely
an irregularmean-tone or the splittingof the difference used, since 18th-centurymusic usually stays within the
between the two or three trouble-makingaccidentals bounds of keys with four flats and sharps.One seldom

has to play the notes E#, Fb, Gb, B#, Cb etc. There are, 'The translationused here is by the oboist J. E. Galliard,who pub-
lished an Englishversionof Tosi'sbook in 1743entitledObservationson
then, three sets of enharmonicpairsthat are usually the FloridSong.Tosi'sbook was still currentenough in 1757that it was
ambiguousand need attention:Ab/G#, Eb/D#, and translatedby J. E Agricolain Anleitungzur Singkunst.The words in
Theothernotes(C,D, E,F,FM,G,A, Bb,B) are bracketsare mine.
Db/C#.6? "'SeeD. Boyden, TheHistoryof ViolinPlaying(Oxford,1965),pp.186,
normallyalwaysin the sameplace. 370-71;Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',p.296. See also Cavallo
The less adaptableto differenttonalitiesa temper- (1788)in appendix.
amentneedsto be, the purerand richerit canbe. Just "T.Podnos, Intonationfor Strings,Winds,and Singers(Metuchen,
NJ, 1981),p.9; D. D. Boyden,'Prelleur,Geminiani,and JustIntonation',
intonation,the theoreticalideal,is practicalin onlyone JAMS,iv (1951),p.219; J. M. Barbour,'Violin Intonation in the 18th
key;equaltemperamentworksin all of them. When Century: JAMS,v (1952), P.233; J. H. Chesnut, 'Mozart'sTeachingof
therefore,the choiceof Intonation' JAMS,xxx (1977),pp.255,n.9, 256;and Barbier;pp.82-5.
planningconcertprogrammes, "See also Werckmeister(1691) in appendix. Barbeiri (pp.70, 74)
tonalitiesrelatesdirectlyto the choiceof keyboardtem- noted other indications of both pure-5thtuning and tempered open
perament,andviceversa. strings.
'3Cf.LeopoldMozart (1756)in appendix.
Conclusion '4Aviolinist playson an open stringabout 5 cents higherwhen play-
ing forte than when playingpiano. (This is the conclusion reachedby
It shouldbe clearby nowwhythe conceptof majorand the authorand a Baroqueviolinist, in experimentsusing an electronic
minor semitones is fundamentalto 18th-centurytuning tuner.)
'5This inconsistencyis the hobgoblinof a theoreticianof 'littlemind'
practice, why it can cause problems between the key- like Sorge (cf. Sorge (1744),P-53in appendix).
board and the other instruments, and how it logically '6Boyden,'Prelleur,Geminianiand JustIntonation',p.202
leads to intonation models that resemblevarious tem- '7SeeBoyden,'Prelleur,Geminianiand JustIntonation',and Robert
Bremner'sPrefaceto J. G. C. Schetky'sSix Quartettos,op.6, quoted in
peraments known nowadays as 'mean-tone'.A closed full in N. Zaslaw,'The Compleat OrchestralMusician' EM (1979),
system is artificialwhen applied to strings, winds and pp.46-57. Bremner (a student of Geminiani) gives violin intonation
voices, but it can help players and singers understand exercises based on pure intervals.See also M. Lindley,'Der Tartini-
how to work with the 'immovable object',a keyboard SchtilerMichele Stratico'KongressberichtBayreuth,GioseffoZarlino,
1588, Sopplimentimusicali (Venice, 1981), chaps.33-7, and Lindley,
instrumentwith its fixed pitch, as well as provide them 'Stimmungund Temperatur', p.293.LeBlanc(1740),p.133ff.mayalsobe
with a frame of referencewith which to build a more discussingjust intonation, to judge from his comments on the diffi-
expressiveand 'harmonious'structureof intervals.61 culty of modulations:'harpischordsare tuned with both major and
minor semitones, which are neverthelessnot exempt from problems
when thereis a changeof key.Thispracticehas been renounceddespite
Bruce Haynes has been playing, making, teachingand its occasionalbenefits.'
writingabout the Baroqueoboesince the late 1960s. '8Thisis a well-knownproblemin choralpractice,whereintonation
tends to be quite pure, leadingthe final tonic to a point remote from
'Asidefrom his articleson temperamentin New Grove,MarkLind- where it began. Sauveuralso discusses this problem in his Mcthode
ley has written an excellent historical survey of temperament and (1707),pp.20o6-7. A more complete discussion of the ramificationsof
tuning in 'Stimmungund Temperatur',GeschichtederMusiktheorie,vi: playingin just intonation on a violin is presentedin C. Moran,'Tem-
Messenund Rechnenin derFriahenNeuzeit (Berlin,1987). perament and Violin Intonation in Baroque Music' (unpublished
Hi-ren,
2PatrizioBarbieri'sexcellentarticle 'Violin intonation: a historical paper,Universityof Montreal,1986).
survey',EarlyMusic,xix/1(1991),pp.69-88, is a welcomeexception.The '9SeeBarbeiri,pp.69-72.
present articlewill, I hope, complement it. 20Barbour,'ViolinIntonation',p.234.Barbour'sarticlewaswrittenin
3Frettedstringedinstruments,whose intonation is a more special- responseto Boyden's,and gives severalconvincing argumentsfor this
ized subject,arenot treatedin this study (see, however,LeBlanc(1740) statement (pp.232-4).
in the appendix).Cf. M. Lindley,Lutes,Violsand Temperaments (Cam- "'Manymusical theorists also drew this line vaguely.See Lindley,
bridge, 1984). 'Stimmung und Temperatur',p.293.As Barbieriput it (p.72), 'mean-
40Otheruseful sources are cited and discussedin Barbieri. tone can be considereda temperedjust intonation ..
'See J. M. Barbour,Tuningand Temperament,a HistoricalSurvey 22SeeBoyden, 'Prelleur,Geminianiand Just Intonation',p.215.
(EastLansing,Michigan,1951),pp.1, 89. 23This is very close to the 'syntonic comma',which is 21.5062896
6Inclassic Y4-commamean-tone, 115ths are tuned one-quarterof a cents, and is incidentallythe differencebetween the over-largemajor
syntonic comma smallerthan pure. This produces eight pure major 3rd in Pythagoreantuning and a pure 3rd. See Lindley,New Grove,iv,
3rds.The placementof the twelfth5th,known as the 'wolf',determines p.591and Sorge (1758)in the appendix.
which tonalities are usable. 24SeeSauveur(1707)and Fontenelle(1711).Lindley,'Stimmungund
7R.Smith'Harmonics'(2nd ed. 1759),pp.166-7,quoted in A. J. Ellis, Temperatur,p.191registersan inexactdiscussionof the 55-partoctave
'On the Historyof MusicalPitch'in A. J. Ellisand A. Mendel, Studiesin by Fernandez as early as 1626; see also p.211 on N. Mercator (1672).
the History of Musical Pitch (Amsterdam, 1968), p.55. Smith was a "2%-comma mean-tone is producedby tuning 11of the 125ths on a
respectedastronomer.See Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur', p.297. keyboardsmallerthan pure by A of a comma (whence the name). In
8. .. a son usage ches les Jofieursd'Instrumensles moins habilesA this temperament,a majorsemitone = lo9.o9 cents and a minor semi-
cause de sa simplicite& de sa facilit.' JosephSaveur,Mdthodegedndrale tone = 87.273 (see Lindley, New Grove, ix, p.278). The difference
(1707).The famous conversionof Rameauto a kind of equal temper- between them is therefore21.817cents, or about as close to a syntonic
ament, recordedin his Gdndrationharmonique(1737)was an interest- comma as it is possibleto achievein a keyboardtuning system.Wecan
ing exception. See Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',pp.244-47. deduce then, that if a consistent systemis implied in the use of major

and minor semitones,?'-commamean-toneis the temperamentthat it oboe d'amore,for instance (normallya low note), could as easilybe a
most resembles. sounding Eb as a D$;fingeredA$ (V#) on a voice-flute (also verylow,
26Some writers,beginning in the early17thcentury,conceived it in especiallyin the second octave,and a C: on the normalF-treble)could
terms of the 55-partoctave. be sounding Bb. Should these instrumentsbe tuned differentlyfrom
27SeeW. A. Mozart(1785-7)in appendix.In Popolidi Tessagli,K316, standardones?Therearenumerousexamplesindicatingthat 'd'amore'
bar42, the voice has a Bb and an A: in the samebar;both the oboe and instrumentswereoften used principallyfortheirabilityto playin sharp
violin have At, though the piece is in C minor. The distinction keys.The basic key (i.e. six-fingerednote) of an oboe d'amoreor flute
between the two notes was obviously significantto Mozart. d'amore is sounding B major;that of a voice-flute is E. See Haynes,
28See Busby (1813)in appendix. Sources that describe /6-comma (1986),p.54. If such instrumentswere normallyassociatedwith sharp
mean-tone, but which are not included in the appendix, include: keys,it is unlikelythatthey would often haveplayeda soundingEb;the
JohannMattheson,Der vollkommeneCapellmeister(Hamburg,1739), note would havenormallybeen a D$ and thus the fingeredF$ (likethe
p.55;JohannAdolf Scheibe, Eine Abhandlungvon den musicalischen D$, inflectedlow) would have workedperfectlywell.
Intervallenund Geschlechtern (Hamburg,1739);Daniel Gottlob Tiirk, 42Using '6-commamean-tone in a rangeof six normal keys for the
KurzeAnweisungzum General-bassspielen (Leipzigand Halle, 1791). Cammer-Toninstruments(Eb Bb F C G D for instance), an organ at
29This is reminiscentof Freillon-Poncein(1700) in the appendix. Chor-Tona major2nd higherwould havebeen tuned with all the acci-
30SeeE. Eijken,'Eenonderzoeknaargetempereerdspel op houtblas- dentals as flats to produce identicalparallelintervalsfor the keys Db
instrumentenin de 17een 18eeeuw, in het bijzonderop de blokfluit' Ab Eb Bb F C. If Chor-Tonwas a minor 3rdhigherthan Cammer-Ton,
['Aninvestigationof temperedintonation on woodwinds of the 17th the same parallelintervalswould have been obtained by tuning the
and 18thcenturies,particularlyon the recorder'](unpublishedterm organto the keys C G D A E B, producedby tuning all the accidentals
paper,RoyalConservatory,The Hague, 1982), p.19. as sharps.
31Johann ChristianSchickhart,Principesde la flate (Amsterdam,c. 43Therewould havebeen a slightdifferencein pitch. Forthe interval
1720). Schickhardtalso published 'L'Alphabetde la musique',a col- of a major 2nd, the differencewould have been 4 cents (At a'-=410,4
lection of sonatas for violin, traversoor recorderin 24 keys (1735). cents is about 1 Hz, which is negligible).The intervalof a minor 3rd
32Thomas StanesbyJr,A New Systemof the Flutea Bec or Common producesa pitch differenceof about 5.5 cents, or about 1.5 Hz.
EnglishFlute (London, c.1732). 44AlthoughNeidhart(1732)and Sorge (1744,p.24) seem to be spec-
33Barbieri (p.82) notes, however,that CharlesDelusse in L'Artde la ulatingon the use of irregulartemperamentsin these situations,Sorge
Flute traversiere(c.1761)was apparentlygiving fingerings that pro- (1748)stronglyadvocateswhat he calls a 'gleichschwebendeTemper-
duced sharpshigherthan flats(he cites PierreSechet).At the time, this atur',in which 11,not 12,5ths are equal (pp.14,34). A modern instance
was exceptional. of 'transposition'is the use of portativeorgansdesignedto play alter-
34Bartolomeo Bismantova,'Regole ... del Oboe' [Ms version of nately at d =440 and d =415 with movable keyboards.A semitone
Compendiomusicale](Ferrara,1688).See E. Tarr,Tibia,2/87 (1987). difference is much less practical in a regular mean-tone, such as
35SeeB. Haynes, 'Oboe Fingering Charts, 1695-1816'GSJ (1978), A-comma, since an organ tuned to play the keys Eb Bb F C G D at
pp.68-93. a'=440 would only be capableof playingthe keys E B F# C# G# D# in
36Both Quantz and Sorge indicated that woodwind playerstuned tune at da'=415.If the keys Eb Bb F C G D were availableat d a'=415,
their scales from the tonic note of the key in which they were playing switchingto d =44o would produce D A E B F# D#.
ratherthan from an absolutepitch as given by a keyboardinstrument. 45The3rd and the 7th, for instance, are always7 and 9 cents below
See Sorge (1758), p.9, par.14;Quantz (1752), chap.16/4.Fred Morgan their placementin equal temperament.
recentlymade a beautifulrecorderfor me with a doubled third hole, 46Scales in the 18thcenturywere traditionallytuned from C, not A
making it possible to distinguishdb"'more accuratelyfrom c"'. (see Asselin, p.34, Chesnut, 'Mozart'sTeachingof Intonation',p.268,
37SeeP.J.White, 'EarlyBassoon FingeringCharts',GSJ(1990), p.98. and Boyden,Historyof ViolinPlaying,p.204). For stringplayers,how-
38SeeWhite, 'EarlyBassoon FingeringCharts',p.96 on Ozi (1787). ever,it is easierto tune to an open string.The tablethereforegivesA as
39Barbour, Tuningand Temperament, p.xi. Manykeyboardtempera- 0.
ments use more complexsystems.In a regularmean-tone,any six keys 47Notethat synonymous sharps/flatsare always approximatelya
relatedto each otherby 5ths (Bb F C G D A, for instance),will contain syntonic comma apart(i.e. between 21and 22 cents--the actualfigure
appropriatelytuned accidentalsand identicalscale intervals.In order containsdecimalpoints that havebeen roundedoff on one side or the
to use other keys, accidentalshave to be retuned. Chesnut believed other).
Quantz was describing an irregular system for his harpsichord 48On this subject, see Heinichen (1728) and Rameau (1737) in
('Mozart's Teaching of Intonation', p.26o, citing Quantz (1752), appendix.
chap.17/vi/2o),but in fact the discrepancyto which Quantz referred 49'Weshouldbe less surprisedby [sucha situation]when we remem-
was between the harpsichordand other bass instruments.Thus it is ber that from the nineteenthcenturyto the presentday,keyboardand
quite possiblethat the 'bonne Temperature'that Quantzsuggestedfor non-keyboardinstrumentshave characteristically been tuned accord-
the harpsichord(chap.17/vii/9)was a regularone. ing to differentsystemsof intonation,the keyboardinstrumentsbeing
40See B. Haynes, 'Questions of Tonality in Bach's Cantatas:the in equal temperamentand the non-keyboardinstrumentsusually in
Woodwind Perspective'Journalof the AmericanMusicalInstrument some form of quasi-Pythagoreantuning' Chesnut,'Mozart'sTeaching
Society(1986),pp.40-67. of Intonation',p.257.
41'Instrumentsbuilt in consortsarenormallytuned at the more com- 50Organsare more audiblebecausetheir notes do not decayquickly.
patibleintervalsof a 4th or 5th. Since in mean-tone conjunct5ths are 51Onthisquestionsee Quantz(1752), chap.17/vi/20.
tuned similarly,a consort of instruments tuned in 5ths (F-C-F-C, 5'See Ellis([1750]) in appendix.TheDIkeysthat weresplitwere and
G-D-G-D or even G-D-A) would be well in tune even when instru- G$. Since it is in the regulartemperamentsthat a choice is necessary
ments were separatelytuned startingon differentnotes. The 'd'amore' between enharmonicequivalents,the use of split keys implies also the
instruments,on the otherhand (such as the voice-flute,oboe d'amore, use of a regulartemperament.
flute d'amore and usually viola d'amore), are pitched a minor 3rd "3Thepracticallimits would be E to Eb in majorkeys and E to F in
below their more standardcounterparts.Lookedat without consider- minor keys.
ation for how these instrumentswere used, certainnotes that are low 54Somehistoryof the use of splitkeyscan be found in Lindley,'Stim-
(from the individualplayer'spoint of view) might need to be high in mung und Temperatur', p.186;F.Hubbard,ThreeCenturiesofHarpsi-
the context of the rest of the group. FingeredF$(IV$)on a flute or chordMaking(Cambridge,Mass,1965),pp.35-6,168;and Klop,p.12.As

mightbe expected,the two notesthatseemto havebeencommonly Reflexion, Sonderband derReihe'Basler Jahrbuch fiirHistorische
Mus-
splitwereD$ andG$. ikpraxis',(1983), PP.346-52.
"5Barbour, TuningandTemperament, p.191.Butcf. LeBlanc(1740), "9Thetuneris available fromWidenerEngineering, 203Westbrook
whosaid([Ona harpsichord,] one cannotcorrect[tuning]duringa Drive,AustinTX 78746,USA.(Model thana Korg,I
or organ,whicharetunedfora believe-is recommended.) 1no-cheaper
concert... (p.55)and'harpsichord
concertonceandforall (andsometimesfora halfyear)'(p.133). 6oOn a woodwind instrument, onytwoenharmonic pairsneedto be
56Inthissituation,ten of the 12noteswouldnormally be identical, ambiguously tunedso theplayerhasa choice:D?/EbandG$/Ab.All
andonlyD?/EbandG$/Abwouldbe different.Sympathetic vibra- fourof thesenotesareregularly demandedwhenplayingin standard
tionson theinstrument wouldnot,therefore, besignificantlyaffected. Baroquekeys.(Dbis rarer,so tuningdecisively to C$is usuallydesir-
57Rousseau suggestedthesameideabydividingthewolfoverthelast able.)Ona flute,G$/Abcanbeadjusted withembouchure oralternate
three5ths(therebystrikinga meanbetweenDM/Eb andG$/Ab)in the fingerings, but the fingering123-456-7(D?/Eb)givea verydecisive
Encyclopddie, ouDictionnaire raisonne dessciences,
arset mitiers,ed.D. pitchbecausemostof thetoneholesareclosed,thereis relatively little
DiderotandJ.LeRondd'Alembert (1756).Barca'stemperament also leewayfor adjustingbreathpressure,and thereis no alternatefin-
allowsforirregular placement of chromatic notesandmighttherefore gering.Hencethe necessityof the addedkey.
be similarto thisone. 61G.C.Klopobserved (ina lectureon harpsichord temperaments at
58TheoboistMichelPiguetof Basle,whohasuseda systemsimilarto Brugesin 1975)thattuningwasusuallydiscussed in 18th-centurytrea-
'6-comma mean-tone(withRousseau's modification) formanyyears, tisesunderthe headingof composition, sinceit wasregardedas an
haswrittena usefulcommentary on teachinghistoricalintonationin expressive device.
'BeispielezurIntonationslehre im Unterricht',AlteMusik;Praxisund
4 Michel Corrette,'Gammedu hautbois' p.51in Mithode raisonnuepour apprendreaisement ljouer de la Flitte Traversiere
... Nouvelle edition... augmente&de la Gammedu Haut-bois... [?1776].Paris,BibliothequeNationale (res.337).Corrette
shows f#'s '" 1'Italienne'and '" la
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APPENDIX:SOURCES
[?169os; manuscript]. Christiaan Huygens, Oeuvres completes (The Hague, 1888-1950), xx, PP.73-4
Mais la voix ajustetout cela, au moins quand on chante sans But a singer adjusts all [these varieties of temperament], at
etre accompagn6de quelqu'unde ces instrumensa tons fixes. least when singing without the accompanimentof an instru-
ment with fixed pitch.
1691 Andreas Werckmeister, Musicalische Temperatur (Frankfurt-on-Main and Leipzig), p.3

Wenn alle Quinten rein gestimmt wuirden/wolteschon eine If the 5ths are tuned purely [on a violin], the result will be
unreine Folge der Consonantieentstehen.' impure intonation.
1698 Georg Muffat, Florilegium secundum (Passau), 'Premieres Observations: I. Contactus. Du Toucher Juste'
J'ay remarqu6que les defauts de ceux qui Jouent faux pro- I have noticed that the most common mistake of those who
viennentla plus part,de ce que des deux touches qui ensembles play out of tune involves the two notes that make up a semi-
composent le semiton (parexamplele mi, & le fa;a & b; & c; tone (as for exampleE-F,A-Bb, B-C, F$-G, C$-D, G#-A etc).
ou #f & g; $c & d;#g & a & c.) Jamaisil ne prennentle mi, ou la The E, or the sharpenednote ($) is not playedhigh enough,
diese $ assez haut; ny le fa ou le b mol assez bas. nor the F, or the flattenednote, low enough.
1700 Jean-Pierre Freillon-Poncein, La VWritableManicre d'apprendre ajouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la

flate et du flageolet(Paris),p.9
Je ne parle point icy de la differencequ'il y a des demy tons I will not speakhere of the differencethat existsbetweenmajor
majeurs ou mineurs, parce que aux Instrumens oi l'oreille and minor semitones, since on instrumentsthat control their
conduit les sons, on peut les faire tous 6gaux;ainsi la trans- tuning by ear,they can all be played alike [i.e. with the same
position sur toute sorte de demy ton se peut executer avec fingerings].Thus, a scale transposedto any semitone can be
autant de justesse que sur le naturel. played as well in tune as one without flats or sharps.
1707 JosephSauveur,Mcthodegnedralepourformerles systcmestemperesde musique,et du choixde celui qu'on

doit suivre: Histoire de l'Acadeimieroyale des sciences, p.215; reproduced in facsimile in R. Rasch, Joseph
Sauveur: Collected Writings on Musical Acoustics (Paris 1700-13) (Utrecht, 1984)
Le systemetempere de 55 comma . .. est celui dont les Musi- The55-partoctave... is theoneusedbymusiciansin general
ciens ordinairesse servent .. fromkeyboardmusiciansin particular]
[asdistinguished ...
1711 Bernardle Bovier,sieur de Fontenelle, Sur les sistcmes

temperdsde musique:Histoirede l'Academieroyale
des sciences,p.80; reproducedin facsimilein R. Rasch,JosephSauveur:CollectedWritingson Musical
Acoustics(Paris1700-13)(Utrecht,1984)
On a vi^dans l'Hist. de 1709que M. Sauveurqui a propose un In the 1709issue of the Histoirewe saw that M. Sauveurpro-
systemetemperede Musique,parlequelil divisel'Octaveen 43 posed a temperedmusicalsystemthat dividesthe octave in 43
partiesegales, croyoit n'avoirque deux autres systemes rais- equal parts, and that only two other systems offered any
onnablesa combattre,l'un de M. Huguensqui divise l'Octave reasonablecompetition: one by M. Huguens [Huygens]that
en 31,& l'autredu gros des Musiciensqui la divisent en 55. divides the octave in 31,and the other used by the majorityof
musicians,that divides it into 55 ...
1723 Pier Franceso Tosi, Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni,

chap.x, par.15
[See quotation in articleabove.]

1726 Jean-PhilippeRameau,Nouveausystcmede musiquethdorique(Paris)
p.111:
[Singers need not follow the above tuning system] excepte [Singersneed not followthe abovetuning system]exceptwhen
qu'ellesne soient accompagneespar des Instruments, "
au Tem- they are accompaniedby instruments,to whose temperament
parment [sic]desquelselles se conforment,tant l'aidede leur they conform by virtueof theirflexibilityand the sensitivityof
flexibilitequ'a l'aide de la sensibilitede l'oreille." their ear.
p.110o:
Les habilles Musiciens scavent profiter " propos de ces dif- Good musiciansknow how to use the differenteffects of the
ferenseffetsdes Intervales,& font valoirpar l'expressionqu'ils intervals,and prove their value by the expressionand variety
en tirent, l'alterationqu'on pourroit y condamner.3 they are able to drawfrom them.
1728 Johann David Heinichen, Der General-Bass in der Composition (Dresden), pp.83-5
... bey heutigen guten Temperaturen,(von alten Orgel ... in today'sgood temperaments(I am not referringto old
=Werckenredenwir nicht) die mit ? und b. doppelt und 3fach organs)the keyswith two or threeflatsor sharpsin theirsigna-
bezeichnetenTone, vornehmlich im TheatralischenStylo als tures emerge, especially in the theatricalstyle, as the most
die schOnsten,und expressivestenvorkommen, daher ich zu beautifuland expressive.Forthis reasonI would not even sup-
Erfindungeines indeschmasktenpur-diatonischenClavieres port the inventionof the long-soughtclavierin just intonation
nicht einmahlrathenwolte wenn es Practibelware:allein dass were it to become practicable.But that the affectof Love,Mel-
man specialiterdiesem oder jenem Tone den Affectder Liebe, ancholy,Joy,etc, belongs to specifickeys, I cannot accept.
der Traurigkeit,der Freude,&c.zu eignen will, das gehet nicht
gut.
1730 Peter Prelleur, The Modern Musick-Master (London), section on the violin, p.4
Note also that as G-sharp& A-flat,or A-sharp& B-flat,or also stop them with the same Finger. [See illus.5. Note that flat
D-sharp & E-flat, etc, are not the same Notes you must not notes are higher than the correspondingsharpnotes.]
5 Fingeringchart from Peter Prelleur,The ModernMusick-Maker,Part V, 'Artof Playing on the Violin' (London, 1731)
L.
k wzrUzo 4??e
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1732; 2/1734 Johann Georg Neidhart, Giintzlich erschbpftemathematische Abtheilungendes diatonisch-

chromatischentemperirtenCanonisMonochordi(Kdnigsberg)
Warendenn die Hautbois, Floten, u.d.g.... nach derselben If oboes, flutes and the like ... were all tuned to [equaltem-
eingerichtet,so muistenothwendig Chor- und Cammer-Ton perament], Chor- and Cammer-Tonwould naturallyblend
durch und durch auf das reinste zusammen stimmen ... togetherthroughout in the purest way...

1737 Jean-Philippe Rameau, Gendration harmonique (Paris)., ed. and trans. D. Hayes (diss., Stanford U., 1974)
pp.87-9:
[When a singer is accompanied by a harpsichord,]dont le [Whena singeris accompanied by a harpsichord,] on which
Temperammentest le plus faux,4[the singer'sear is] toujours the temperament is the mostout of tune, [thesinger'searis]
preoccupdedu Son principal du Mode ... apris avoir par- continuallypreoccupiedwith the tonic of the key . . after
couru plusieurs [successions]qui ne sont pas certainementa havingpassedthroughseveral[intervals] whicharesurelynot
l'Unisson de ceux du Clavecin,elle se reunit avec lui dans ce in unisonwiththoseof the harpsichord, thevoicerejoinsthe
Son principal,ou dans son Harmonie.5 harpsichordon the tonicnoteor chord.
p.92:
L'Oreillene suit pas servilementle Temp rammentdes Instru- The eardoesnot slavishlyfollowinstrumental temperament
mens ... [Ils] serventseulementa la mettre sur les voies des ... [Instruments]onlyserveto orientatethevoiceon theprin-
Sons fondamentaux. .... elle tempere, sans reflexion . . tout cipalnotes. . singerscorrect,withoutthinkingtwice. .. any-
ce qui peut s'opposer aux justes rapports de ses Sons thingthat mightobscurepureintonationin relationto the
fondamentaux. principalnotes.
p.91:
... les habiles Maitres [of the violin] ... diminuent un tant ... thebestmasters[ontheviolin]... as I havebeentoldby
soit peu les Quintes, comme me l'a assureM. Guignon Ordi- [Jean-Pierre] Guignon [1707-74], one of his Majesty's
naire de la Musiquede Sa MajestY,pour y adoucirla duretede musicians,narrowthe 5thsslightly,in orderto sweetenthe
la Sixte ... [entre] les deux cordes extremes. 6th ... [between]thebottomandtop strings.
overlarge
p.104:
Celui qui croit que les diff6rentesimpressionsqu'il regoit des To those who believethat the differentimpressionsthey
differences qu'occasionne le Temperammenten usage dans receivearecausedby the differencein temperament in each
chaqueMode transpose,lui dleventle genie, &le portentaplus transposedkey,givingeach a specialcharacterand thereby
de variete,me permettrade lui dire qu'il se trompe;le goit de providingmorevariety,permitme to tell themthattheyare
varidtese prend dans l'entrelacementdes Modes, & nullement mistaken;varietyhasitsoriginin theblendingof keysandnot
dans l'alt ration des intervales, qui ne peut que diplaire a in the modification
of intervals,
whichcanonlydispleasethe
l'Oreille,& la distrairepar consequent de ses fonctions.6 ear,thusdistracting
it fromits [proper]work.
1740 Hubert LeBlanc,Defensede la bassede viole (Amsterdam)
p.54:
Of the many 3rdsthat . .. areconsideredso reasonable,three-
De tant de Tierces que . . . qualifie etre si aimables,vous [le quartersof yours [the harpsichord's]and the organ'sare false.
Clavecin] & l'Orgue en avez les trois quarts de fausses. Une A nice earwould only be able to listen to someone playyou (to
Oreille fine ne sauroit chez vous entendre le joueur (pour be fair to two who are capable)by ignoring the defect of the
rendre justice a deux qu'il y a d'habiles), qu'en s'imposant instrument'sintonation and the discord that is heard in so
silencesurle defautde justessedansl'Instrument,&au rapport many harmonies, that vex the fastidious listener ratherthan
que fait l'oreille de tant d'accordsqui impatiententl'Auditeur gratifyinghim.
ddlicat,plut6t que de le flatter.
P-55:
[On a harpsichord,]on n'a pas la faculte d'y retoucher [l'ac- [On a harpsichord]one cannot correct [tuning] duringa con-
corde] dans un Concert,au-lieu que sur les instrumensaChe- cert, while on instruments with tuning pegs, the tuning is
villes mobiles, on ajuste l'accord sur chaque Ton, oi l'on va adjustedfor each key in which one plays,and not in a 'one size
jouer, & non sur la selle Atous chevaux d'un Ami l'a donne. fits all' manner.
L'Artdivin de M. Blavet7est de reparersur la Flute, par le The divine artistryof Mr Blavet consists in adjusting [the
moyen de l'haleine modifiee. Ainsi les Ecolie'resde Clavecin, tuning of his] flute by his manner of blowing. But students of
lorqu'elless'applaudissentqu'il est toujours d'accord,ne sen- the harpsichordpraise the instrumentfor its intonation, not
tent pas qu'il n'y est jamais. perceivingthat it is in fact never truly in tune.

p.133:
Un Seigneurqui fait la Viole a temoigne qu'ayantdes Touches, A gentlemanwho playsthe gambaa little remarkedthat as the
elle est infirieureau Violoncel,qui n'en a point:elle est sujette, instrumenthas frets,it is inferiorto the cello, which has none:
dit-il, a ce que les demi-Tons Majeurs & Mineurs soient this causesit, he says,to be unableto distinguishor governthe
employes indiff~remment,& les uns pour les autres. choice of major and minor semitones.
Pour satisfaire~ cette Objection des plus considerables,il To answerthis seriousimputation,it should be pointed out
fautremarquerque de la partde la Viole, avoirdes Touchesest that on the gamba the existence of frets is hardlythe same as
different d'etre partageen demi-Tons fixes, a la manidredu being split up into fixed semitones, as on a harpsichordor
Clavecin & de l'Orgue:on ne les accorde qu'une fois pour organ, which are tuned for a concert once and for all (and
toutes, pour un Concert,& quelquefoispour une demi-annie. sometimes for a half-year).
Mais sur la Viole la Chevillemobile point trop multipliee, Forthe gamba'stuning pegs, not being overlycomplexas on
comme sur le Luth,aneantitle defautd'avoirdes Touches,car the lute, overcome the defect of frettingby being tuneable in
elle le repareen accordanta chaqueTonsurlequel on va jouer. whateverkey one plays.
Si l'on regardel'Objectioncomme non resolue, parce qu'- But it may be objectedthat the problem is still unresolved,
apresle choix du Ton dans lequel on entre, lorsqu'on passera since even after choosing the key in which one is to play, the
du b quarreau b mol, la difficult4reste entibreAl'egard des mode may change from major to minor, requiring minor
demi-TonsMajeursremplacespar les Mineurs. semitones ratherthan major.
Jereponsque celaprouveque la faussetevient d'ailleursque My answeris thatthis provesthatbad intonationderivesnot
des demi-tons Majeurs& Mineurs,ils sont un objet trop peu from the majorand minor semitones, since they are of them-
consid rable. selves of little consequence.
Lapreuvede leur peu d'influenceest, qu'il y a des Clavecins The proof of their nominal influencecan be seen in the fact
oh se trouventles demi-Tonsdes deux esp&ces,lesquelsnean- that harpsichordsare tuned with both majorand minor semi-
moins ne sont pas exemts des juremensdans les changemens tones, which areneverthelessnot exemptfrom problemswhen
de Tons A d'autres.On s'est desiste de cette pratiquecomme there is a change of key. This practice has been renounced
d'un leger avantage. despite its occasionalbenefits.
L'Objectiondu demi-Ton tire tout son degre de consid- The problem in using semitones derives from the cases in
eration du cas oh il devientle Ton capitaldans lequel on joue which it becomes the tonic note in which one plays,and in the
alors sur l'Orgue & le Clavecin,il est un jurement perpdtuel. case of the organ and harpischordit is a perpetualcurse. The
Maisla Bassede Viole est tiree de pairparle changementdans bassviol, however,escapesthis difficultybecauseit can change
son accord facilea mouvoir.On commence a accorderpar ut its tuning easily.It tunes a scale from any given tonic, regard-
sur le Son due demi-Tondonne. less of which semitone it may be.
Au contraire dans le Discours Musical,le peu d'attention During the act of playing music, on the other hand, the
que s'attirentles demi-Tons,se prouvede ce qu'ilsne tiennent slightattentionthat is accordedthe differentsemitonesproves
lieu que de particulesde liaison conjonctives,ou de transition, that they merelyservethe purposeof conjunctiveor transitive
telles que car, neanmoins,&c. Sur lesquellesl'esprit n'appuie particles,such as 'for','nevertheless'etc. They hold the atten-
pas, comme dans la chute sur un Ton, lorsque le sens finit. tion no more thanthe last fallof a note when a phrasecomes to
its end.
I1faut donc tirer d'ailleursla raison de d&cider. The cause must arise elsewhere.
Ce sera des Tons Majeurs & Mineurs transposes de leur It is the juxtapositionof the naturalorderof the majorand
ordre naturel dans l'Octave.Car les cinq Tons entiers qui en minor semitones within the octave. For the five whole tones
formentplus des deux tiers, ne gardentpas une distanceegale that comprise more than two-thirds of the octave are not
de l'un Al'autre;&,lorsqu'onchangede Ton,il se faitun boule- placed at equal distancesfrom each other, and, when the key
versement general, les Tons les plus espacdsviennent atre changes,this producesa generalconfusion, as the largerinter-
remplacesparde plus foibles,ceux qui ont une moyenneespace vals are replacedby smaller ones, and those that guarded a
sont releves de sentinelle par d'autres qui en ont une plus medium-sized intervalare relievedof that function by others
grandeou une moindre Agarder,il s'enfuitdes juremensex&- that were intendedto servefor a smalleror largerone. Conse-
crablessur les Instrumens,qui n'ont pas le secours des Che- quently,the most hideous oaths escape the instrumentsthat
villes mobles, ou qui manquent pour les mod~rer d'une are not providedwith tuning pegs, or that are unableto mod-
haleineaussijudicieusementemployeeque celle de Mr Blavet. erate their pitch by means of breath pressure, employed as
judiciouslyas is done by Mr Blavet.
Ainsi chaque fois qu'on change de Ton, le diplacement des Each time there is a modulation, in other words, the
partiesmet tout sans-dessusdessous dans la primibreOctave, relationshipsof the semitones is jumbled in the first octave,
& les autresqui en font la rdpitition. and consequentlythe others that are tuned to it.

1742/3 Georg Philipp Telemann,'Neues musicalischesSystem',in L. C. Mizler,MusikalischeBibliothek,iii/4
(Leipzig,1752/R1966),pp.713-19[plus tables]8
p.716:
Mein System hat keine ClaviermassigeTemperatur zum My systemis not basedon any keyboardtemperament;rather,
Grunde,sondern zeiget die Klinge, so, wie sie auf uneinges- it displaysthe sounds found on unrestrictedinstrumentslike
chrinkten Intrumenten,als Violoncell,Violineetc, wo nicht the cello, violin etc, that can playpurely(if not alwaysentirely,
v6llig, doch bey nahe, rein genommen werden k6nnen, wel- nearlyso), as day-to-dayexperienceteaches.
ches denn die tigliche Erfahrunglehret.
p.718:
Es bestimmeteine durchgehendsproportionirlicheGleichheit It brings about a universalproportionateequalityamong the
unter den Intervallen.... Es sind etwan ein Duzend Jahre,da intervals.... Only a dozen yearsago, I myselfstillbelievedthat
ich selbst noch glaubete, man worde bey Anh6rung etlicher the hearing of some of these harmonies would cause one to
von derenHarmoniedas Balsambiichschenzur Hand nehmen reachfor the smellingsalts.But experiencehas takenthis error
miissen.Alleindie Erfahrunghat mir den Irrthumbenommen, from me, and shown that C#-Eb and Ab-Cbb taste of the
u. dargethan,dass C#, Eb u. Ab-Cbb nach einerley Geworze same spice.9
schmecken.
1743 Jean-JacquesRousseau,Dissertationsur la musiquemoderne(Paris),in Oeuvres,xix, p.130.

Lam&chanique du temperamentintroduitdansla modulation In modulations,the mechanismsof temperamentcause such
des tons si durs, par exemplele reet le sol diesis, qu'ilsne sont unpleasantnotes, for exampleD and G#, that they areimposs-
pas supportablesa l'oreille..... Lavoix ne se conformejamais ible to listen to. .... Singersneverconform to them . .. except
... a moins qu'elle n'y soit contrainte par l'unisson des when forced to do so at points where they are in unison with
instrumens. the instruments.
1744 GeorgAndreasSorge,Anweisungzur Stimmungund Temperatur sowohlder Orgelwerke,als auch anderer

Instrumente,sonderlichaberdes Claviers(Hamburg)
p.24:
... the other [temperamentwith unequal division of the
... die andere [temperamentwith unequal division of the
comma] m6chte sich zum musicirenim Cammer-Ton,wenn comma] may work better when playingin Cammer-Tonwith
die Orgel im Chor-Tonstehet, besserSchicken,denn da wird an organ in Chor-Ton,since the key of Ab majoris often used
der ModusAs dur oft, E dur aber wohl gar nicht gebrauchet. but E major practicallynever."'Likewise,Eb major appears
Ingleichenkommt Esdurgaroft, H durabergarnicht vor.Wie- quite frequentlybut B majoralmost never.Again,Bb majoror
derummuss B duroder auch D duroftmalsherhalten,da her- also D majorwill often appear,while on the contraryone rarely
gegen Fis dur nicht leicht erscheinenwird. sees F# major.
[He gives two versionsof an irregulartemperament;he says [He gives two versionsof an irregulartemperament;he says
that] . . . die Waldhorneraus dem Eswie auch die Oboenwer- that] . . . the horns in Eb and also the oboes will be quite satis-
den ganz wohl mit dieser Temperatur zufriedenseyn." fied with this temperament.
P-35:
So dann fangeman im f, an, und stimme solchesnach Belieben One beginsthen on f and tunes in Chor-Tonor Cammer-Ton
in Chor- oder Cammer-Ton,nachdem das Clavierbeschaffen (depending on in which the harpsichordis tuned) approxi-
ist, etwa nach einer Flute douceoder Traveriere[sic]. mately to the pitch of a recorderor traverso.
P.53:
als die Flutesdouges,sind bis
Die Fliten, sowohl die Traversen Flutes,both traversosand recorders,have been provideduntil
datomit einer garschlechtenTemperaturversehen, und hatten now with a very bad temperament,and the gentlemen who
die HerrenPfeifenmacherhohe Ursache,sich um die Lehreder make them have more need than other musiciansto concern
Canonicund Harmonicmehr als andere Musici zu bekhim- themselveswith the acousticsof music, or at least to tune and
mern, oder doch ihre Instrumenteso viel immer moglich nach regulate their instruments as closely as possible to a well-
einer wohl temperirtenOrgel zu stimmen und einzurichten. temperedorgan.On traversos,the F,G# and B aregenerallythe

Auf den Traversenfehlet es gemeiniglich am f, gis und b am worst offenders.But I believethatit should be quitepossibleto
meisten. Ich glaubeaber,es sey gahrwohl m6glich auch diesen correcteven these notes. The situationwith recordersis worse
Tonen ihr beh6rigesRecht zu thun. Mit den Flutesdoupessie- yet, and they areeven harderto control than traversos,though
het es noch schlimmeraus, und sind auch noch tiblerzu zwin- I believe they can be improved. If only flute-makerswere also
gen als die Traversen.Doch halte daftir, dass sie in der theoreticians,things would naturallygo better.
Stimmung zu verbessernsind. Wenn nur die Pfeifenmacher
erst Harmoniciwiren, hernach solte es sich auch schon mit
ihnen geben.
Die Oboessind auch noch nicht mit der besten Temperatur The oboes are also not furnishedwith the best of temper-
versehen.Sol ihnen geholfenwerden,so muss ein Harmonicus, aments.They could be helped if an acoustician,a good oboist,
ein guter Oboistund ein Pfeifenmacherbey einerwohl temper- and a woodwind maker examined together a well-tempered
irten Orgel zugleich Hand anlegen. Der Oboisteund Pfeifen- organ.The oboist and woodwind-makershould not, however,
macher aber dtirffennicht eigensinnig seyn, sondern mtissen be headstrongand obstinate,but Reason,togetherwith sharp
Raison annehmen und spitzige Ohren zum Werke bringen. ears, should govern all. And the same goes for the flutes, of
Und solches ist auch von denen Fl6ten zu verstehen. course.
Die brauchbarenund unentbehrlichenGeigen habens am The useful and indispensablefiddles are the best off; still,
besten, jedoch miissen ihre 3 Quinten beh6rigermassentem- their three 5ths must be correctly[tuned], so they beat a little.
perat? [sic] gestimmet werden, so dass sie ein klein weniges Otherwise,if the 5thsareall tuned purelywithout beating,and
abwertsschweben,sonsten kommen sie, wenn z.E. im g ange- (for example) the G is tuned exactlyto the organ,the A and E
fangen,und solches mit der Orgelvolkommen rein gestimmet will be noticeablytoo high [comparedto the organ]. For the
worden, mit a, und e2ein merklicheszu hoch, wenn sie nam- rest, everything depends on a good ear and accurate
lich alle 3 Quinten ohne Schwebungrein stimmen wolten. Das fingering ...
iibrigekammt auf ein gutes Geh6r und reinen Griffan...
Sorge also advisessingers to follow the keyboardtemperament(p.55).
1748 GeorgAndreasSorge, Gespriichzwischeneinem musicotheoreticound einemstudiosomusices(Lobenstein)

p.21:
Mit einem Wort:Die SilbermannischeArt zu temperiren,kan In a word-Silbermann's way of temperingcannot exist with
bey heutiger Praxinicht bestehen. modern practice.'2
p.51:
Besser gefillt mir das bertihmten Herrn CapellmeisterTele- The famous Herr CapellmeisterTelemann'sSystemainterval-
manns SystemaIntervallorum,als welcherdie Octavin 55.geo- lorumpleasesme better,in which the octave is divided into 55
metrische Abschnitte (Commata) die von Stufe zu Stufe units, or commas, which become smallerfrom step to step.
kleiner werden, theilet.
p.52:
... die kleineste Secund vom Einklange [ist] unterschieden S. . the [intervalof a] 'smallestsecond' differsfrom a unison
... um den neundten Theil eines grossen Tons, oder um ein by the ninth part of a whole tone, or one comma.This same
Comma.Und um so viel ist auch #C:bD, D:bbE,#D:bE, E:bF, amount distinguishesalso C#/Db, D/Ebb, D#/Eb, E/Fb,E#/F,
#E:F,#F:bG,xF:G,#G:bA, A:bbH, H:bc, #H:c und c:bbd etc, F#/Gb, G#/Ab, A/Bbb, B/Cb, B#/C and C/Dbb etc.
unterschieden.
p.58:
0! wie mancherGeigerfingt seine Partieanzuspielen,und hat Oh! When so many fiddlersbegin to play their parts without
nicht einmahl seine Geige behorig gestimmet, wo will denn having even properlytuned their instruments,how will pure
hernach die Reinigkeit herkommen? ... o Blindheit, o! tuning ever be achieved?... Oh blindness! Oh ignorance!
Unwissenheit!wie gross bist du noch in der musikalischen How greatyou remainin so many partsof the world of music.
Welt an manchen Orten.
p.61:
... tiber Herrn CapellmeistersTelemannsSystema... Mich ... about HerrCapellmeisterTelemann'sSystema... I would
dtinckt es sey gar schicklich,wenn man zu einer jeden Note think that it would be more appropriateif each separatenote

auch einen besondern Klang oder Clavembestimmet, und were producedby its own specialsound and key, ratherthan,
nicht einem Clavizwey- bis dreyerleyNoten zueignet,wie wir as on present-daykeyboards,one key for two and even three
ietzo in unsernClavierthun miissen ... AufsClavierwird sich [different]notes ... This system cannot be applied to a key-
dieses Systemnicht applicirenlassen;'3auf der Geigeaber,und board instrument, but it may be rather convenient for the
einigen Blase-Instrumenten,m6chte es eher thunlich seyn; fiddle and certain wind instruments, and is the easiest for
denen Sangernaber ist es am leichtesten. singers.
1750 AlexanderJ. Ellis, 'On the History of MusicalPitch',Journalof the Societyof Arts(5 March1880); reprinted
in A. J. Ellis and A. Mendel, Studiesin the Historyof MusicalPitch (Amsterdam,1968),p.37
I am indebtedto Mr E. J. Hopkins, organistof the Temple,for sharp,G sharp.If the left-handsliderwereput full to the left, E
furnishingme with a MS note made by Mr Leffler(d. 1819), flat was changedinto D sharp,and if the right-handsliderwere
organistof St Katherine's,then by the Tower,with Mr W. Rus- put full to the right, B flat was changedinto A sharp.If, how-
sell, then organistof the Foundling,which describesthe great ever,the right-handsliderwere put full to the left, G sharpwas
peculiarityof this organ [FoundlingHospital,Glynand Parker, changedinto A flat, and if the left-handsliderwere put full to
opened by Handelin 1750and playedby him subsequently].It the right, C sharp became D flat. . . . Mr Hopkins always
had the usual12keys to the octave,but a means of alteringthe understoodthat this arrangementwas due to Dr RobertSmith
notes sounded by four of them. Therewas a sliderwith three of TrinityCollege,Cambridge.... The TempleOrganand the
restsabovethe drawstops on each side. When the sliderswere oldest Durhamorganhad an Eflat and D sharp,an Aflat and G
at the centralrest, the 12notes were the usual 12of the mean- sharp,that is two and not four additionalnotes, and these were
tone temperament,E flat, B flat, F,C, G, D, A, E, B, F sharp,C introducedby divided keys and not by sliders ...
1751 FrancescoGeminiani, TheArt of Playingon the Violin(London), p.3
Geminiani recommended that beginners finger enhar- This rule concerning the Flats and Sharps is not absolutely
monic twins at the same place on the neck of the violin, exact.The Octavealso must be dividedinto 12Semitones,that
but said, is, 7 of the greaterand 5 of the lesser.
1752 JohannJoachimQuantz, Essaid'une methodepour apprendrea jouer de la FlUteTraversiere [in Frenchand

German] (Berlin;Eng. trans. sec.
1966;2/1987),chap.3par.2,3, 5, chap.16,par. 4, 7; chap.17, vi, par. 20;
8;
sec. vii, par.4,8, 914
chap.3/5:
On verrapar la, que les tons, etant indiquespar le b mol sont From these tablesyou can see that the notes indicatedwith a
d'un Comma plus hauts, que quand ils sont marquespar un flat are a comma higher than those indicatedwith a sharp.
Diese.
chap.3/8:
Ce qui m'a porte Aajoutera la Flute encore une Clef qui n'y a What led me to add another key not previouslyused on the
pas ete auparavant,c'est la difference entre les Demitons flute was the differencebetween major and minor semitones.
majeurs& mineurs.... Le Demiton majeura cinq Comma;le ... The majorsemitonehas five commas,the minor only four.
Demiton mineur n'en a que quatre. II faut par consequent For this reason,Eb must be a comma higherthan D9. If there
qu'Es (mi b mol) soit d'un Comma plus haut que Dis (re Diese). were only one key on the flute, both Eb and D? would have to
S'il n'y avoit qu'une Clef sur la Flute,il faudroitentonnerl'un be played similarly,as on the harpsichord,where they are
& l'autre, Es (mi b mol) & Dis (re Diese) de la m~me fagon, playedfrom the samekey;so that neitherEbto Bb (the ascend-
comme on fait sur le Clavecin,oii on les touche par une meme ing 5th) nor D? to B (the descendingmajor3rd)would be well
touche; c'est Adire les deux intervallessont temperes;desorte in tune. In orderto makethis differenceclear,and to placethe
que ni Es (mi b mol)a B (si b mol),comme la Quinteparen bas; notes in their correct proportion, it was necessary to add
ni Dis (reDiese)aH (si), comme la Tierceen haut, n'accordent anotherkey.. . . It is true that this distinctionis impossibleto
parfaitementbien. Pour marquer donc cette difference, & make on the harpsichord,where each pair of notes we wish to

entonner nettement les tons selon leur proportion, il 6toit distinguishareproducedwith a singlekey,makingit necessary
necessaired'ajouterencore une Clef. ... Il est vrai que cette to have recourse to tempering. But since this difference is
differencene peut pas etre exprimee sur le Clavecin,oh l'on basedon the natureof the notes and can be producedwithout
touche tous ces tons qu'on distingueici, sur une meme touche, difficulty by singers and string players, it is reasonable to
ayant recours a la Temperatureou Participation.Cependent observeit on the flute as well (and this cannot be done without
cette differenceetant fond&edans la naturedes tons, & pouv- the extra key). Appreciationof this difference between flats
ant etre observ&esans peine par les Chanteurs& les Joueurs and sharps is needed by anyone who wants to develop a
d'instrumens d'archet, il est juste de l'exprimer aussi sur la refined, exact and accurateear in music.
Flute, ce qui ne se peut sans l'autreClef.'5La connoissanceen
est necessairea qui veut rendrefin, precis & net ce qui appar-
tient Al'oreille dans ia Musique.16
chap.16/4:
Dans une piece en mode Es (mi b mol)&As (la b mol),on peut In piecesin Eb andAb, the flute can be tuned a littlelowerthan
accorderla Fluteun peu plus bas qu'atous les autresmodes;les in all the other keys, the flat keys being a comma higher than
modes avec les b mols etant d'un comma plus hauts que ceux the sharp.
avec les dieses.'
chap.16/7:
S'il se trouveque les Violons sont plus hautsque le Clavecin;ce If the violins should happento be tuned higherthan the harp-
qui peut aisementarriver,quandleurs Quintes sont accordees sichord,which can easilyhappen if their 5ths are tuned a little
un peu trop haut, au lieu qu'ellesdoiventl'etreun peu plus bas, wide ratherthan (as must be done on the harpsichord)a little
comme il fautque cela soit observeau Clavecin;ce qui causeen narrow,the flute playeris obligedto adjustmore to the violins
quatreQuintesqui sont ainsi accorddes,une differenceconsid- since they are more audiblethan the harpsichord.Tuningthe
erable:alorsle joueur de Fluteest oblige de se reglerplutot aux four 5ths wide on the violin causes a considerabledifference
Violons qu'au Clavecin,ceux-la se faisantentendredavantage with the harpsichord. . . it is a mistake made only by those
que celui-ci .... cette faute ne se commet que par ceux qui who considermusic as a mere tradefrom which they deriveno
traitentla Musicquecomme un metier,dans lequel ils ne trou- realsatisfaction,not by thoughtfuland experiencedartistswho
vent pas un veritableplaisir,& non pas par des Musiciensrais- love music and play in order to please refinedears.
onables & experimentes,qui aiment la Musique& qui jouent
pour plaire a des oreilles ddlicates.
chap.17/vi/2o:
Chaque joueur de Clavecin qui connoit la proportion des Everyharpsichordistwho understandsthe proportionof inter-
intervalles,sauraaussi, que les Demi tons mineurs comme D vals will also know that minor semitoneslike D-D# and E-Eb,
(re) avec la diese, & E (mi) avec le b mol, &c. diffhrentd'un etc, differby a comma, and thereforecause on this instrument
Comma, & causent par consequent sur cet instrument, oihil (unless the keys are split) certain intonation problems with
n'y a pas des touches partagees,quelque inegalitedans l'into- other instrumentsthat playthese notes in theircorrectpropor-
nation Al'6garddes autres instrumens,qui donnent ces tons tions. This is especiallynoticeablewhen the harpsichordplays
dans leur juste proportion. Cela est surtout sensible quand le with any of these instrumentsin unison. Now, sincethese notes
Clavecinjoue avecquelquesuns de ces instrumensa l'Unisson. cannot alwaysbe avoided,especiallyin keys with many sharps
Or comme on ne peut pas toujours 6viterces tons-la, surtout or flats,the accompanistdoes well to put them in the middle or
aux modes ofi il y a beaucoupde dieses & de b mols; I'Accom- lowerpart of the chord, or if such a note makesa minor third,
pagnateurfait bien de les mettre au milieu ou dans la partie to omit it altogether.For it is especiallythese minor 3rds that
inferieure de l'accord, ou si un de ces tons fait la Tierce sound so imperfectand defectivewhen playedin unison with
mineure, de l'omettretout afait. Carce sont particulierement the principalpartin the upperoctaves.I am referringmainlyto
les Tierces mineures, dont le ton est tres imparfait& defec- the minor 3rdswhen c",d"and e"(the second-octaveut, re and
tueux, lorsqu'ellesse rencontrent avec la partie principale 'a mi on the flute) areprecededby a flat,or to put it more briefly,
l'Unisson dans les Octaves hautes. J'entendssous ces Tierces the notes cb",db"and eb".I am also referring,however,to g'
mineuresprincipalementles tons C, D & E adeux lignes (ut, re and a' (first-octavesol and la), and d"and e"(second octavere
& mi secondsde la Flute),quand il y a un b mol devanteux, ou and mi) when precededby a sharp,since as major3rds,they are
pour dire bri~vement,les tons Ces (ut b mol),Des (re b mol) & too wide in theirtemperamentandthereforetoo high. It is true
Es (mi b mol). Cependantj'y ref~reaussi G & A a une ligne (sol that this difference [in intonation] is not as clear when the
&la premiers),& D & E a deux lignes (re &mi seconds),lor- harpsichordis playedby itself, or when it accompaniesa large
qu'ils sont pr~cid~spar un didse; car 6tant des Tierces ensemble. But when the notes are in unison with another
majeures,ils sont trop fort dans leur temperature& par con- instrument, the difference is quite audible, since the other

sequenttrop haut. Il est vrai qu'on ne sauroitremarquercette instrumentsplay them in their correctratios,whereason the
difference si distinctement, en jouant seul du Clavecin, ou harpsichordthey are merely tempered. For this reason, it is
accompagnantdans une Musiquede beaucoup de personnes. better to omit them entirely,ratherthan offend the ear.
Maislorsqueces tons se rencontrenta l'Unissonavecun autre
instrument, la difference se fait entendre beaucoup, a cause
que les autresinstrumensles donnent dans leur juste propor-
tion, pendant que sur le Clavecin ils ne sont que temper&s.
C'estpourquoiil vaut mieux de les omettretout afait,que d'en
blesserl'oreille.
chap.17/vii/4:
Pour accorderd'une manierepr&cisele Violon, je crois qu'on To tune the violin accurately,I believe one would not do badly
ne feroit pas mal, si l'on suivoit la regle qu'on observe en to follow the same rule as for tuning the harpsichord,that is,
accordantle Clavecinc.a.d. que les Quintesferont un peu foi- with the 5thsa littlenarrow(andnot entirelyperfect,let alonea
bles, & non pas tout nettes, comme on les accordeordinaire- littlewide, as commonlyhappens),so thatthe open stringswill
ment, ni encore moins trop fortes;afin que toutes les cordes agree with the harpsichord.If one tries to tune all the 5ths
nues soient egales avec le Clavecin.Car si l'on veut accorder purely or wide, the result will be that only one of the four
toutes les Quintesnettes &fortes,il s'ensuitnaturellement,que strings will be in tune with the harpsichord.But if the A is
de quatrecordesil n'y auraqu'unequi seraegale avecle Clave- tuned preciselyto the harpsichord,the E slightlyflat to the A,
cin. Maissi l'on accordela cordeA (la) tout egale avecle Clave- the D a little sharpto the A, and the G likewiseto the D, the two
cin, & E (mi) un peu foible contre I'A (la), D (re) un peu fort instrumentswill be in tune together.
contre I'A (la), & G (sol) de meme contre D (re); les deux
instrumensseront d'accordensemble.
chap.17/vii/8:
Il y a des personnes qui sentent fort bien, moyennant leur Thereare some playerswho havea verygood ear and who can
finesse naturellede l'oui, quand un autrejoue faux;mais elles easilyperceivefalseplayingby others,but areunawareof com-
ne s'en appergoiventpas quand elles commettent la meme mitting the same mistake themselves, and would not know
faute elles memes, & ne sauroient y remedier. Le meilleur how to remedy it. The best manner of escape from this igno-
moyen pour se tirerde cette ignorance,est le Monochorde,sur rance is the monochord, on which one can clearlylearn the
lequel on peut apprendrele plus distinctementa connoitreles intervals. Every singer and instrumentalist should become
proportionsdes tons. Il seroit n&cessaire,que non seulement familiarwith its use. They would thereby learn to recognize
chaqueChanteur,mais aussi chaquejoueur d'instruments'en minor semitones much earlier as well as the fact that notes
rendit familier l'usage. Ils acquerroientpar-la, de beaucoup markedwith a flat must be a comma higherthan those with a
plus de bonne heure,la connoissancedes Demi tons mineurs, sharpin front of them. Withoutthese insightsone is obligedto
& apprendroientque les tons marquespar un b mol, doivent depend entirelyon the ear,which can howeverdeceive one at
etre un Comma aplus hauts que ceux qui ont un didsedevant times. Knowledgeof the monochord is requiredespeciallyof
eux; au lieu que sans ces lumieres ils sont obliges de se fier playersof the violin and other stringedinstruments,on which
absolument a l'oreille, dont le jugement est pourtant quel- one cannot use the placementof the fingersas an exact guide,
quefois bien trompeur. Une telle connoissance du Mono- as one can on wind instruments.
chorde se demande principalementdes joueurs de Violon &
d'autresinstrumens"iarchet, auxquelleson ne peut pas, par
rapportAla mise des doigts, prescriredes bornes comme aux
instrumensa vent.
chap.17/vii/9:
Lorsqu'ontrouve les Sousdemi tons proprement dits, c.a.d. If sub-semitones (to use their correct name) appear con-
qu'un ton baiss6 par le b mol se change en celui, qui lui est secutively,in other words if a note lowered by a flat becomes
imm~diatementinferieur & qui est hauss6 par un didse, ou transformedinto the note just below it, raisedby a sharp [or
qu'un ton hauss6 par le didse se change en celui, qui lui est vice versa], .. . the note with a sharpis a comma lowerthanthe
imm~diatementsuperieur& qui est baiss6par le b mol... le one with a flat. [For example, G4should be a comma lower
ton avec le dikse est un Comma plus bas, que celui avec le b than Ab.]'8If these two notes are tied to each other (as in
mol. Quand ces deux notes sont lidesensemble,v. Tab.XXIII. [ex.i]), one must draw back one's finger a little for the sharp

Fig.6.il faut retirerle doigt un peu surle diese qui suit le b mol; following the flat; otherwise the major 3rd will be too high
autrementla Tiercemajeureseroit trop haute contre la partie againstthe fundamentalnote.
fondamentale.
Si au contrairele b mol suit apres le diese, v.Fig.7.il faut But if, as in [ex.2],the flat followsthe sharp,the fingermust
aupresde la note avecle b mol, avancerle doigt autantqu'on le be advancedas much for the flat as it was drawnback in the
retiredans l'exemplepr&cedent... On observela meme chose precedingexample ... This same thing is done on all instru-
atous les instrumens,excepteau Clavecin,oii l'on ne peut pas ments except the harpsichord,where the sub-semitonescan-
effectuerdes Sous-demi tons, & lequel pour cette raison doit not be effected,causingit for this reason to have recourseto a
avoirune bonne Temperature,afinqu'on puisse souffrirl'un & good temperamentwhich allows either note to be endurable.
l'autrede ces tons. Surles instrumensa vent ce changementse On wind instruments, these changes are accomplished
faitparle moyen de l'embouchure,de fagonque surla Fluteon through embouchure corrections. On the flute, the pitch is
hausse le ton en la tournant en dehors, & on le baisse en la raised by turning it outwards and lowered by turning it
tournanten dedans.Surl'Hautbois[sic] &le Bassonles tons se inwards.On the oboe and bassoon,the pitch is raisedwhen the
haussent, quand on avancel'anche plus dedans la bouche, & reedis advancedin the mouth and the lips arepressedtogether.
qu'on presse plus les levres ensemble; & ils deviennent plus It is loweredby withdrawingthe reed and relaxingthe lips.
bas, quand on retirel'anche & relacheles lievres [sic].
Ex. Ex.2
1754 et de la pratiquede la musique(Paris),p.135

JeanLaurentde B&thizey,Expositionde la thedorie
... comment la voix s'ajuste-t-elleau temperament... d'un ... how a singer adjusts to the temperament ... of an ...
. . instrument:Pour entonner la premierenote d'un air,elle instrument:to sing the firstnote of an aria,the singerrefersto
se reglesur la note tonique du mode principal,telle qu'elleest the tonic note of the principalkey as playedby the instrument,
rendueparl'instrument,&forme ensuiteles differensinterval- and subsequentlyadjusts the different intervals . . . without
les . .. sansegarda l'alterationdes notes que l'instrumentfait referenceto the notes playedby the instrument .... When a
entendre. Lorsqu'un nouveau mode paroit, la voix est new key appears,the singer is obliged to conform to the new
obligee de ....
se conformera la manidredont l'instrumentrend la tonic as rendered by the instrument. . . . if the voice and
nouvelletonique... Si la voix &l'instrumentformentensem- instrument play a unison or octave together, the voice is
ble une tenue Al'unisson ou a l'octave,la voix est forc&ede se obliged to conform to the instrument. .... When the singer is
conformerAl'instrument..... Quandla voix est accompagn&e accompanied by several instruments, of which one is more
de plusieursinstruments,si l'un d'eux se fait mieux entendre audiblethan the others,the singerperformsas if accompanied
que les autres,la voix se conduit, comme si elle n'etaitaccom- by this instrumentalone. If severalor all of them are equally
pagnee que de cette [sic] instrument.Si tous ou quelques-uns audible,the singer ... does not adjustto any of their temper-
se font entendre aussi bien l'un que l'autre, la voix . . . ne aments (or perhaps finds their average),but performs in his
s'ajusteau temperamentd'aucune [sic] d'eux, Amoins que ce own particulartemperament.
temperamentne tienne le milieu entre les autres,mais se fait
alors un temperamentque lui est particulier.
1754 Giuseppe Tartini, Tratatto di musica (Padua, R1966), pp.99-loo

Di fattoil Bassoorganicorinchiudetuttal'armonia;e cantanti, In fact, the organ bass contains the complete harmony;and
e suonatorisi accordanocon l'organoper ben' intuonare.Ma both singersand instrumentaliststune to the organfor the sake
organo,e clavicembalo(se non si moltiplichinoi tastia dismis- of good intonation. But (unless the keys are multipliedexces-
ura) non hanno altro intrevallo perfettamenteaccordato, se sively) the organ and harpsichord have no other perfectly
non la ottava;e quasi tutti gli altri intervallidi quinte, quarte, tuned intervalsbesides the octave;almost all the other inter-
terze maggiori, e minore, tuoni, e semituoni sono accordati vals, such as 5ths, 4ths, majorand minor 3rds,2nds and semi-
per discretivotemperamento,e non secondo la ragione, o sia tones are tuned by arbitrarytemperaments,and not in their

forma dell'intervallorispettivo. Dunque e impossibile l'uso correctratio,or accordingto their respectiveintervals.The use
della scala suddetta in precisione di ragioni, percht in tal of the above-mentioned [purely tuned] scale is therefore
necessariotemperamentole ragionirestanoalteratenella loro impossible in its exact ratios, becausethe necessityof using a
forma. temperamentaltersit from its true form.
... Io nel mio Violino, dove suonandoa doppiacordaposso ... When I play my violin, using double stops, I find an
incontrarfisicamentela formadell'intervalo,di cui e segno fis- interval'sproperratiothrougha physicalsensation,which can
ico dimostrativoil tal terzo suono, che deve risultare,ho il van- [also] be establishedscientifically.The correct3rd that I play
taggioper me, e per i miei scolari'9dellasicuraintonazione,e in resultsinevitably,and gives me, and my students, the advan-
conseguenzadell'usorealedellascalasuddettain precisionedi tage of assuredintonation, and in consequencethe true usage
ragioni. Bisogna per6 avvertire, che questa scale, bench of the above-mentioned scale in its precise ratios. I should,
dimostrativamentededotta, non e perfetta intieramente in though, point out that this scale, however convincingly
ciascunpossibileconfronto delle note musicalicostituenti... derived, is still not completely perfect in every possible situ-
ation in its constituent musical notes ...
1756 Leopold Mozart, Versuch einer griindlichen Violinschule (Augsburg)"2

p.66, note:
Auf dem Claviersind Gis und As, Des und Cis, Fis und Ges, On the keyboard,G# and Ab, D$ and Eb, F$ and Gb, etc, are
u.f.f. eins. Das machtdie Temperatur.Nach dem richtigenVer- the same. That makes the temperament.But accordingto the
haltnisseabersind alle die durchdas (b) erniedrigtenToneum correct ratios, all the notes lowered by a flat are a comma
ein Kommahdher als die durch das (#) erh6hetenNoten. higher than those raisedby a sharp.
p.69, note:
das (b) erniedrigtenTOneum ein Kommahoher als die durch Notes loweredby a flat are a comma higher than those raised
das ($) erhbhetenNoten. Z.B. Des ist hoher als Cis;As hbher by a sharp.Db, for instance,is higherthan C$; Ab higherthan
als Gis, Ges hoher als Fis, u.s.w. Hier muss das gute Geh6r G#, Gb higherthan F#, etc. An accurateear must be the guide
Richterseyn:Und es warefreilichgut, wenn man die Lehrlinge here; it would be very useful for the student to make use of a
zu dem Klangmasser(Monochordon)ffihrete. monochord.
p.191:
Ich habe die Probe auf der Violin, dass beym Zusammen- I have noticed that on the violin, when two notes are played
streichen zweener Tone auch so gar bald die Terz, bald die simultaneously,the 3rd,6th or octave,etc, also spontaneously
Quint, bald die Octavu.s.f. von sich selbstauf eben dem nim- sound on the instrument.Everyonecan use this as a reliable
lichen Instrumentedazu klinge. Dieses dienet nun zur untrU- mannerof checkingif notes are being playedin tune and cor-
glichen Probe, womit sich ieder selbst priifen kann, ob er die rectly.For if two notes (which I will indicatemore specifically
Tone rein und reichtig zu spielen weiss. Denn wenn zweene below) are drawnout of the violin in a good and correctman-
Tone, wie ich sie unten anzeigen werde, gut genommen und ner, then the lower voice will also be clearlyaudible, though
recht aus der Violin, so zu reden, herausgezogen werden;so muffled and raspingin sound. If, however,the notes are not
wird man zu gleicherZeit die Unterstimmein einem gewissen played in tune, and one or other is fingeredeven slightlytoo
betaubtenund schnarrendenLautgardeutlichhoren:sind die low or too high, the lower note will also be false.
Tonehingegennicht rein gegriffen,und einer oder der andere
nur um ein bisschenzu hoch oder zu tief;so ist auchdie Unter-
stimme falsch.
1758 Georg Andreas Sorge, 'Anmerkung iiber Herrn Quantzens ... dis und es-Klappe auf der QuerflOte',F.W.
Marpurg, Historisch-kritische Beytriige (Berlin, R1970), iv, pp.l-721
Sorge concludes that the comma described by Quantz is the same as Scheibe's (1739) and Telemann's (1742/3), as it is
the only one that will fit exactly 55 times into an octave.
Betrachtenwir diesescommatischeSystemgegendas rational- Ifwe comparethis systemwith the well-temperedharpsichord,
gleich gestimmte Clavier,so finden wir einen betrachtlichen we will discovera considerablevariation...
Unterschied...
Wasnun hier von den TonartC gesagtist, das gilt bey allen What is said here for the key of C majoris valid also for all
ubrigenTonarten.Denn wir setzen voraus, dass ein Flktenist the other keys, as we are assumingthat a flautistmust always
allemahlseine Flote nach dem Grundtoneder jenigen Tonart tune his instrumentto the tonic of whicheverkey he will be
einstimmen mdsse, woraus er spielet. playing.

Hier scheinet es nun, als wenn man zu wtinschen Ursach Now, it appears(if one could haveeverywish) that the harp-
hitte, dass das Claviermit noch mehrernTastenin der Octav sichord actuallyneeds to be provided with more keys in the
mdchte versehenwerden. Allein wenn man erweget,dass der octave. But when we consider that the naturalspace required
nattirlicheSprengeleiner Tonartso weit nicht gehet, dass die by each tonality does not exceed the divergence of a whole
Abweichungein ganzes Comma betrUge;und dass bey Auf- comma;and that,in the performanceof a piece, much depends
ftihrrungeines Sticks es auch viel auf die Moderationdes F16- on the discretionof the flautist,we can conclude that it is not
tenisten ankomme:So wird man finden, dass es nicht rathsam advisableto provide the harpsichordwith additional [split]
sey, das Claviermit noch mehrernTastenzu versehen. keys.
Wenn man auchbedenket,dass die Querfl6teeben nicht 24 When we also considerthat the traversodoes not actuallyneed
Tonartennothig habe, wie das Clavier,so kann man mit einer all 24 keys, as does the harpsichord,it would be easier to
ungleichenTemperaturder Eubereinstimmungmit der Quer- approachthe tuning of a traversoin most keys with an irregu-
fl6te, in den meisten Tonarten,noch naher kommen, als mit lar temperamentratherthan the well-temperedone.
der rationalgleichen Temperatur.
Sorge gives an example for D major and compares it with Telemann's system; while it is close, it offers only D# and
G#, etc, and so fails to solve the question of enharmonic equivalents. Sorge offers several other irregular temper-
aments, each adapted to a particular key, which, as he points out, obliges the flautist to limit strictly his choice of keys
in a concert. He concludes with his own personal opinion that equal temperament would eliminate the need for
enharmonic distinctions.
1767 Georg Philipp Telemann,LetzteBeschiiftigungG. Ph. Telemannsim 86. Lebensjahre,bestehendaus einer

musikalischeKlang- und IntervallenTafel,in Unterhaltungen,
iii (Hamburg)22
Man schmelzet beyde nahen Klange [C:/Db] nach Veranlas- Because of the harpsichord, the two neighbouring sounds
sung des Claviersin einen zusammen ... [C:/Db] are fused together into one ...
Dass des und es zween unterschiedeneKlinge ausmachen,sol- That D: and Eb are two separatesounds is demonstratedby
ches findet sich auch bey den Violinen, wo des mit dem 4ten, the violin, where D: is played with the fourth finger and Eb
und 6s mit dem kleinen Finger gegriffen wird; desgleichen with the fifth; traversosare the same with their two separate
haben die Traversierenhierzu zwo besondere Klappen. . ." keys. ..
1773 CharlesBurney,ThePresentState of Musicin Germany,the Netherlands,and the UnitedProvinces...

(London), i, p.313
... in the ... divisions of tones and semi-tones into infinitelyminute parts,and yet alwaysstopping on the exact fundamental,
SignoraMartinetzwas more perfectthan any singerI had everheard:her cadencestoo, of this kind, wereverylearned,and truly
pathetic and pleasing.
[?1774] Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 'Extrait d'une reponse du petit faiseur', Oeuvres (1781)
While not advocating equal temperament, Rousseau was very early in discussing the concept of 'tendency notes'. In
suggesting that B natural should be higher because it leads to C, he says:
Ceci,je le saisbien, est directementcontraireaux calculsetablis I know well that this is in direct contradictionto established
et A l'opinion commune, qui donne le nom de semi-ton reckoningand the generalopinion, which gives to the passage
mineur au passaged'une note ason diese ou a son b mol, et de of a note to its sharpor flat the name 'minor semitone',and to
semi-ton majeurau passaged'une note au b mol sup rieurou the passageof a note to its next-higherflat or next-lowersharp
au dikse inf6rieur. the name 'majorsemitone'.
1777 F. de Castillon,'Flhitetraversierea deux cles',Diderot and d'Alembert,Encyclopedie,

supplement24
Castillonincludedan interestingcomment that appliesto the over-smallintervalbetweenthe low IV/IV# on all the
woodwinds of the period (F/F# on traversoand oboe, Bb/B on recorderand bassoon):
... les flutes de M. Quantz differentencore des autrespar le ... M. Quantz'sflutes differ from all others in their tuning.
temperament. Ordinairementle fa des flltes traversitresest Usuallythe F on the transverseflute is not flat enough and the
tant soit peu trop haut &le fa diese est juste;dans les n6tres,au F4 is correct;in his, on the contrary,the F is true and the F: a
contraire,lefa est juste, &lefa dikseun peu trop bas. ... Rare- little flat. . . . Rarely,if ever,is music written in the key of F?,

ment, ou plut6t jamais,on ne compose une pice en fa diese, either major or minor, but very often in F major and minor.
soit majeur,soit mineur;mais on en compose tres-souventen The F4 appearsbut seldom as a tonic, and it is much betterto
fa, majeur& mineur.Lefa diese ne paroit donc guerecomme have the F in tune, since it is the keynoteof a tonalitynot only
fondamentale,& il vaut bien mieux l'alt rer que le fa qui est la much used, but one of the most beautiful on the flute. F#,
fondamentale d'un mode, non-seulement tres-usit6, mais when it appears,could easilybe temperedby the embouchure;
encore un des plus beaux pour la flCite;d'ailleurs,on peut but as it stands, F naturalremains a bad note.25
forcer le fa diese par le moyen de l'embouchure,mais le fa
devient d'abordfaux.
1785-7 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

John Hind Chesnut (pp.263-71)has pointed out that from a close look at Thomas Attwood'snotes on his studies
with W. A. Mozartin 1785-7,it is clearthat Mozart'snormal concept of instrumenttuning distinguishesthe small
and largehalf steps of a mean-tone temperamentsimilaror identicalto /6-comma.The usual discrepancybetween
keyboardand other instrumentsexists.
1783 AlessandroBarca,'Introduzionea una nuova teoria di musica, memoria prima' Accademiadi scienze,
lettereed arti in Padova:Saggiscientificie lettari(Padua,1786),pp.365-418.Cited in Barbour,Tuningand
Temperament, P.43
Barcawrote that to make the 5ths '/6-commasmallerthan pure was the
... temperamentoper comune opinione perfettissimo,quale ... temperamentconsideredgenerallyas perfect,althoughit is
suole applicarsialle quinte diatoniche ..."6 usuallyapplied [only] to the diatonic 5ths ...
1788 Tiberius Cavallo, 'Of the Temperament of those Musical instruments, in which the Tones, Keys, or Frets,
are Fixed, as in the Harpsichord, Organ, Guitar, &c, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London, lxxviii, p.238
When the harpsichord,organ &c is to serve for solo playing, especially when modulations and transpositions are to be
and for a particularsort of music, it is proper to tune in the practiced,then it must be tuned accordingto the temperament
usual manner . . .but . . .when the instrumentis to servefor of equal harmony.7
accompanying other instruments or human voices, and
c.1790 John Robison, 'Temperament', Encyclopaedia Britannica (Edinburgh, 3/1801)

[Playersof instrumentswith flexibletuning] when unembarrassedby the harpsichord... [should not temper their scales]but
keep it as perfectas possible throughout;and a violin performeris sensible of violence and constraintwhen he accompaniesa
keyed instrumentinto these unfrequentedpaths.
1813 Thomas Busby, Universal Dictionary of Music (London, 4th edn)
As late as 1813,Busby discusses major and minor semitones, and states that temperament is applied:
in orderto remedy,in some degree,the false intervalsof those instruments,the sounds of which are fixed;as the organ,harpsi-
chord, pianoforte,&c.

'Quoted in Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',p.263
2Quotedin Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',p.244
3It is interesting to compare this with Rameau's diametrically
opposed laterstatementon the same subject.See Rameau(1737),p.lo4.
4Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',pp. 245-6 thinks Rameauis
probablydiscussing 'A-commamean-tone here.
'Quoted in Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',p.245
6Quotedin Lindley,'Stimmungund Temperatur',p.246
7Michel Blavet (1700-1768) performed at the Concert Spirituel "'o
more frequently than any other performer, and was unanimously
Wt
praisedfor his tone, intonation and technique.See N. Zaslaw,'Blavet,
Michel',New Grove.
8Telemann'ssystem is discussed in Sorge (1748) and (1758). In
(1758), pp.2-5, Sorge equates Quantz's temperament with that
describedby Scheibe and Telemann,and discussesthe 'Comma tele-
mann' which Telemannhimself says is half that of 'mean-tone'.(As
noted above, in '/-comma mean-tone-'mean-tone' in its strictest
sense-the differencebetween flats and sharps is indeed about twice
that in the 55-partoctave.)
'Translationby Carlo Novi
',o.S. Bach'ssurvivingcantatasdo not bearout this observation.Cf.
Neumann.
1The temperamentis shown in Lindley,'Stimmung und Temper- ..Ox.
atur',p.273 (2ob). ARO
"Translatedin Barbour,Tuningand Temperament, p.196 .~' z
'3Cf.Telemann'sown statement:'my systemis not basedon anykey-
board temperament.. _02WNi
.
'4TheFrenchversion of the Essaiis not, properlyspeaking,a trans-
lation. It appearedsimultaneouslywith the Germanversion and was
preparedfor the benefit of Quantz'spatron, Frederickof Prussia,who oil
had difficultyreadingand speakingGerman.See N. Mitford,Frederick ,X1i~~i'i~
MON~~:j
the Great(London, 1970/R1984),pp.20, 205. G. A. Sorge, in 'Anmer- WINNERS
\MNs
kungen tiber Herr Quanzens ... #D und bE-Klappeauf der Quer-
fl6te',equates Quantz'stemperamentwith that advocatedby Scheibe
and Telemann.
15Quantz's invention was welcomed by Castillon and other writers qx::
on the flute of this period. See E. R. Reilly,'Quantz and his Versuch; - ------ -----
Three Studies'(New York,1971),PP.55,91, citing J. S. Petri,Anleitung
zur practischenMusik (Lauban, 1767/82)and J. G. Tromlitz, Aus-
fiihrlicherundgriindlicherUnterrichtdie Flite zu spielen(Leipzig,1791).
'6SeeCastillon (1777).
'7Thisis presumablyon account of the stringed instruments with
which the flute is playing,whose basic pitch is entirelyunfixed. Sorge
(1758),P.9 saysthat it is assumedthat the flautisttunes his instrument
to the tonic of the piece he is playing.
18Thissentence appearsin the Germanversion only.
'9Cf.Lindley,'Tartini-Schtiler'on M. Stratico,a student of Tartini.
20'It can be shown that for whicheverof the standardcommas we
choose, the perfectfifthsin LeopoldMozart'ssystemweretheoretically
flattedby about one-sixth of that comma.'Chesnut, 'Mozart'sTeach-
ing of Intonation',p.26o.
2'See Chesnut, 'Mozart'sTeachingof Intonation' p.26o.
2Reprinted in GeorgPhilippTelemann:Singenist dasfundamentzur
Musikin allenDingen,ed. W. Rackwitz(Leipzig,1985),pp.266-73.This
is a continuation of Telemann'sSystemof
1742/3.
ROESSLER
23Cf.Quantz (1752)
'4E. Halfpenny, 'A French Commentary on Quantz',ML, xxxvii FINE RECORDERS& OTHER
(1956),pp.61-6 contains a complete Englishtranslation.
25Translation from Halfpenny,'A FrenchCommentary',pp.65-6 HISTORICALWOODWINDS
26Chromatic notes may therefore be irregularlyplaced in Barca's
system.
27Itis not clearwhether'equalharmony'= 'equaltemperament'or 'a HEINZ ROSSLER - FLOTENBAU
regular
temperament'. P O. BOX 1648, D-2240 HEIDE
WEST GERMANY


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Beyond Temperament: Non-Keyboard Intonation in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Author(s): Bruce Haynes

This content downloaded from 145.102.112.14 on Thu, 20 Feb 2014 18:13:05 PM

Beyond temperament: non-keyboard

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 357

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i The musical amateurs(1755). Oil painting by Julius Quinkhard(Amsterdam,Rijksmuseum)

356 EARLYMUSIC AUGUST 1991

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358 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 359

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,goe ~.??Lli blow'a•gs.morwhar"traonqer

2 OboechartfromTheSecondBookof TheatreMusick(London:Walsh,1699).DurhamCathedral courtesyof the

360 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 361

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362 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 365

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1691 Andreas Werckmeister, Musicalische Temperatur (Frankfurt-on-Main and Leipzig), p.3

1700 Jean-Pierre Freillon-Poncein, La VWritableManicre d'apprendre ajouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la

1707 JosephSauveur,Mcthodegnedralepourformerles systcmestemperesde musique,et du choixde celui qu'on

1711 Bernardle Bovier,sieur de Fontenelle, Sur les sistcmes

1723 Pier Franceso Tosi, Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni,

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 367

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1732; 2/1734 Johann Georg Neidhart, Giintzlich erschbpftemathematische Abtheilungendes diatonisch-

368 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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1740 Hubert LeBlanc,Defensede la bassede viole (Amsterdam)

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 369

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370 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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1743 Jean-JacquesRousseau,Dissertationsur la musiquemoderne(Paris),in Oeuvres,xix, p.130.

1744 GeorgAndreasSorge,Anweisungzur Stimmungund Temperatur sowohlder Orgelwerke,als auch anderer

372 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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Sorge also advisessingers to follow the keyboardtemperament(p.55).

1748 GeorgAndreasSorge, Gespriichzwischeneinem musicotheoreticound einemstudiosomusices(Lobenstein)

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 373

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1751 FrancescoGeminiani, TheArt of Playingon the Violin(London), p.3

1752 JohannJoachimQuantz, Essaid'une methodepour apprendrea jouer de la FlUteTraversiere [in Frenchand

374 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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376 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991

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1754 et de la pratiquede la musique(Paris),p.135

1754 Giuseppe Tartini, Tratatto di musica (Padua, R1966), pp.99-loo

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1991 377

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1756 Leopold Mozart, Versuch einer griindlichen Violinschule (Augsburg)"2