Re: F_minor...

[jerry and judy <jerbidoc@zianet.com>]

>At 05:39 PM 2/22/99 -0700, jerry and judy <jerbidoc@zianet.com> wrote:
>>
>>I think this came out in an interview once, but I don't how serious he was.
>>What is meant by a performer's favorite key?  I play a lot and I don't have
>>one.  Maybe I should?  Do listeners have favorite keys?
>>
>>...
>>
>>It makes sense for composers to be partial to certain keys, because of
>>certain musical technicalities or even personal experiences with specific
>>keys.  Beethoven's use of Cm and Mozart's use of Gm and Dm was more of a
>>saving or a reserving of these keys for certain characteristic works.
>>
>>Jerry
>
>It's more than musical technicalities and past experience.  I didn't even
>know this myself until a couple of years ago -- and I've been a pianist for
>30 years --, but it turns out that until about 1918 or so, keys really did
>sound different, even on a piano.

<snipped>
>
>That aside, even on a modern piano with equal temperament many of us have
>psychological leanings to certain keys.  My favorite is A major.
>
>Michael


Thanks for your post, Michael.  I don't disagree, but it seems to me that
there are three misleading notions floating around here and I don't know
enough about GG to answer them.

1.  What did Glenn mean when he said whatever he said about the key of Fm?
was his answer related to performance, listening or composing?  Was it a
flippant remark?
For that matter, what did he mean when he said Gibbons was his favorite
composer?  :)

2.  What do historical tuning systems have to do with Gould?  Did he ever
record  with any of them?  Not his Handel harpsi-piano recordings, not his
Byrd/Gibbons recordings(?)

3.  Did Gould have perfect pitch and how much of a hindrance was it for
him?  Was he hyper-sensitive in this area?  I know people that say it's a
curse.

Today, all half steps are tuned using the ratio the twelfth root of two, so
that the intervals between the twelve tones of the octave all have the same
equidistant relationship.  The goal is to use this system and what is known
about human hearing affinities and limitations to please the owner of the
piano, at least in my experience as a piano tuner. (grin)  In addition,
every piano must be 'tuned to itself' as an instrument.  Tuners stretch
intervals, octaves and whole registers to achieve 'an overall tailoring'
and 'brilliance' etc. as desired effects.  Tuners are human, and they might
tend to favor some keys or more likely, leave other keys a little out
because of their original setup techniques and then at the end they prefer
not to re-readjust knowing that they'll lose somewhere else.  It's a grand
compromise at its heart!!

Would differences in concert pitch affect your key favorites?  Since 1938,
standard pitch for middle A (violin) has been set to 440 cycles per second,
the world over.  The standard A has ranged from 374.2 to 567.3 down through
history.  The French pitch of A 435 (Diapason Normal) was established in
1859 and the
Boston Symphony adopted it in 1883.  The London Philharmonic used the
higher A 461 for more brilliance(?)  The historical choice of A 440 is
just a convention, it's not based in acoustics.


Jerry