If you are not a musicologist, you might be wondering what A415 is as you read this blog. It's a little complicated, but we promise it won't hertz. Jeff Phillips, our Artistic Administrator, explains:
Historically there were many different pitches to which groups of musicians tuned, based on local tradition or, in the Baroque era, to the pitch the local organ was set as it was impractical to tune otherwise. This pitch varied from about A=380 Hz to as high as A=480 Hz, based on surviving examples. In the nineteenth century it became clear that settling on a standard pitch across Europe would be a good idea--France even passed a law setting A=435 in 1859--but the standard "concert pitch" was finally set to A=440 only in the mid-1900s. While 440 is still the worldwide standard, among professional orchestras the pitch continued to rise to accommodate larger concert halls, with most settling on 442 or 445; a higher pitch is perceived as brighter, and therefore louder, by the listener.
Since period-instrument makers and musicians needed a pitch standard on which to settle, most period-instrument ensembles, Philharmonia included, use A=415 Hz as their pitch standard for Baroque music, since it's almost exactly a half-step lower than concert pitch. Harpsichords and organs are built with the ability to shift back and forth between pitches easily, strings sound a bit warmer, and singers are generally happier to be able to sing their high notes without strain.
The image is above is a page of George Frideric Handel’s autograph draft score of Messiah, 1741 (The Granger Collection, New York).
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This is interesting. In the equal temperament, I calculated Ab4 to be ~415.305 (given that A4 = 440), and I'm guessing most human ears aren't sensitive enough to detect a difference of 0.3 Hz... I take it this is why, when I was listening to a YouTube recording of Bach's Harpsichord concerto in f minor, everything sounded a semitone lower than what was on the score.
ReplyDeleteMy question is; for such performances, do they tune the piano/harpsichord differently or they just have the keyboardist play a transposed score?
For our concerts, our keyboard technician Andy tunes the harpsichords, organs, forte pianos, etc. to the whatever tuning has been determined as accurate or appropriate for the pieces.
ReplyDeletedoes this tuning apply to renaissance music?
ReplyDeleteTo answer (but not answer) your question... yes and no. Please read our longer post on pitch here.
ReplyDeleteAre there scores available so that the notes 'look right' to the singers? I have some notes in my head that I just sing in tune when I see them...it seems as if a half tone lower, particularly in something like "Messiah" with lots of melisma, would be difficult to sing when seeing different notes than you are singing.
ReplyDeleteWhile Anonymus is correct in his assumption that .3 hz is inaudible, most certainly all baroque instruments are tuned to 415. Baroque temperaments provide different keys with different "colors", so transposing would not allow the full Baroque expression of the key. Scores in A minor, for example, are written in A minor, read in A minor, and played in A minor no matter what A is set to.
ReplyDeleteSally: We asked our Chorale Director Bruce Lamott to help answer your question and here's your answer:
ReplyDeleteA Chorale singer must be able to read at whatever pitch Nic [our Music Director] determines is appropriate for the repertoire (i.e., Beethoven, and probably Haydn, will be different than Bach). This is a skill required of professional singers with any period orchestra, despite the inconvenience (and sometimes annoyance) of those with absolute pitch.
Does it harm a single manual harpsichord with couplers to change the tuning style back and forth between 415 and 440 as needed? I would think the different tensions would weaken the frame....
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From our Artistic Administrator: "Most modern harpsichords are built with transposing keyboards, that allow the player to shift rather effortlessly between A=415 Hz and A=440 Hz, taking into account the tuning change in temperament required with such transposition. It's quite certainly a stress on harpsichord strings to tune back and forth between semitones, and will result in many broken strings. But I am not aware of issues with stress on the frame. Consult Bay Area harpsichord builders such as Kevin Fryer or John Phillips for further information."
ReplyDeleteTo comment on what this entire discussion is about, the tuning absolutely does matter. No matter how insignificant, everything does matter. First, notation is just that. It is quite relative. Technically, you could tune 'A' to anything, as 'A' is just a reference to a specific note. Next, musicians have to be prepared to play whatever notes 'A', and the following notes, to what they are set. No exceptions, as 'A' is a relative term. Finally, the difference between 415 and 415.3, may be minuscule, but it is important. It is the reason pianists are always out of tune, as, technically, an A# is not the same as an B♭, as the B♭ is supposed to be lower than the A#. And that is the difference between keys, as they have different 'colors'. This is why...
ReplyDeleteDev, thank you for comment. We agree that this is important! We wouldn't have named our blog – or written multiple blog posts about – after this idiosyncrasy of our repertoire otherwise (Juilliard probably feels the same since their new period-instrument ensemble is called Juilliard415).
ReplyDeleteHave there been any issues specificaly resonance) with the violin family, as in a modern versus period (antique) instrument) tuning to 415. I know the luthiers tune their carved spruce tops to a certain pitch.
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