Dear Colleagues
Schubert Chopin Debussy Bach unequal temperament
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| Schubert Chopin Debussy Bach unequal temperament |
| A seminal unequal temperament recital, from quite the opposite of an Autobahn pianist. The tuning puts potholes in their road, around which the pianist has to navigate, and as expected by the composers. |
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might be of interest. "Autobahn" pianists who drive at 120 miles per hour undeterred by mountains, valleys, rivers or bends, hardly seeing them, thanks to the tunnels and bridges that equal irrational proportioned semitones provide (yes - I accuse modern tuning as being as irrational as 12th root 2 is) are not appealing to audiences in any way other than sport.
Meanwhile young pianists cannot compete with the greats - Cortot, Rubinstein and all of the pianists all have admired. At best they can only emulate and repeat what's been done before - unless we give them new tools.
New tuning, restoration of the tuning which composers relied upon, opens up a new toolbox for performance.
The recording above is by a pianist who has familiarised himself with what an unequal tuning can do on his home instrument for a decade.
It's catching on. Members of the audience in a historic Abbey in the south of England were entranced, one saying that she hadn't heard the piano so beautiful and enjoyable since 1991 when she'd moved there.
Malmesbury Abbey - Bluthner concert in unequal temperament
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| Malmesbury Abbey - Bluthner concert in unequal temperament |
| Uploaded by latribe on 2025-11-24. |
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So is it historic?
Was Chaminade
Beethoven Chaminade Liszt unequal temperament
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| Beethoven Chaminade Liszt unequal temperament |
| A brilliant concert at Hammerwood Park on the 1885 Bechstein Model III and possibly most interesting of all, whether Chaminade in writing her Songs without Words was using the language of musical keys documented by Christian Schubart a century before. 00:00 Introduction 01:57 Beethoven - Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. |
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using the language of keys detailed by Schubart in accordance with the titles and sentiments of her Songs without Words?
Best wishes
David P
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David Pinnegar BSc ARCS
Hammerwood Park, East Grinstead, Sussex, UK
+44 1342 850594
"High Definition" Tuning
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