I, also being a rank amateur (or at least no better than semi-pro in that I will take paying gigs when they come along), like to imagine that my other points were at least decent too. There seems to be some evidence that some fretted composers were striving for equal temperament certainly by the 17th c. The fact that non-equal instruments with unsegmented frets become more jumbled with more remote modulation also seems to argue for an effort to approximate equal temperament in works that modulate to remote keys.
Carry on, Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Leonard Williams > Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 10:13 AM > To: Lute List > Subject: [LUTE] Re: ET FunFest [was]New lute music and ET > > Eugene-- > Your final point is a good one in the temperament wars. What, > indeed, did the composer have in mind? How did he/she hear the music? > What > was it composed upon? And you're right--one seldom hears of a specified > intonation. We work off assumptions based on what tunings might have been > used, without knowing how accurately they were executed, or if the > composer > ever worked with other ones for comparison. I (rank amateur) personally > like the sound of my lute in meantone (and would go so far as to suggest > it > to others), but I have no idea what anyone else hears in it, so in the > bigger picture perhaps it doesn't matter. > > Regards, > Leonard > > On 9/26/09 9:33 AM, "EUGENE BRAIG IV" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I would argue more should be willing to indulge, at least > > occasionally, in both non-equal and equal temperaments as the musical > occasion > > seems to call for it as determined by the performer (unless explicitly > > prescribed by a composer...which certainly isn't often, thus these > recurring > > debates). > > > > Enjoy, > > Eugene > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
