----- Original Message ----- From: Jerzy ZAK <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 30 January 2004 17:19 Subject: Re: equal temperament
> > On Friday, January 30, 2004, at 04:01 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote: > > >> The WTC then becomes an interesting exercise in *composing* in > >> different keys > >> (because each key has its own character), rather than an exercise in > >> *playing* > >> in any key (which is trivial). > I'm sorry - writing for writing. Try to play ''in any key''! > > > This is a matter of opinion, and I personally find nothing trivial > > about it. > > Unequal temperament may give some flavour to earlier music that blandly > > never strays to far from the home key, but in the era in which > > modulation > > became an important element of expression ET is anything but > > "trivial". It > > is INDISPENSABLE, as a matter of fact. > > RT > Crazily loving modulations (which are so rare in Baroque literature) I > undersigne with both hands. > jurek > Sorry, I missed Roman's message but do I get the impression that anyone seriously believes that JSB would have regarded being able to "play in any key" a difficult task towards which he would wish to strive? It remains a possibility that WTC was intended for ET - It just seems to me that a musician of JSB's stature would hardly need to prove to the world that he knew how to *play* in seven sharps - everyone would take that for granted. And ET is not "indispensable" for modulation - as I hoped I had made clear, it is just one of many temperaments which allow modulation to any key. It also has the unfortunate effect of making all keys sound the same, and therefore largely removes the point of modulating in the first place... M
