At the weekend the 1885 Bechstein at Hammerwood was for a concert with Debussy, Fauré and Liszt on the menu.
Johanna De Coitre - Debussy Faure Mozart Liszt unequal temperament & fortepiano in meantone
YouTube |
remove preview |
|
Johanna De Coitre - Debussy Faure Mozart Liszt unequal temperament & fortepiano in meantone |
Johanna De Coitre, Professor at Conservatoire de Nice, at Hammerwood Park in Sussex UK. The 1885 Bechstein is tuned to a variation of Kirnberger III temperament and the Stodart 1802 fortepiano in Meantone. 00:00 Start 00:03 Debussy - L'Isle Joyeuse. |
View this on YouTube > |
|
|
We also presented two Mozart Sonatas in Meantone on an 1802 Stodart.
The 7th Mozart Sonata is Masonic, about life, being buried in the grave ceremoniously, and rising from the dead. In Meantone one can experience it. The hell of the grave in F minor is palpable. It's meant to sound horrible. Music isn't always meant to sound nice or entertain. It's to give emotional experience and that's why Key is chosen not to climb a staircase but to unlock a door to a different sound. Perhaps you won't like it - you're not meant to.
This was a concert really exploring F major and F minor and likewise Liszt in the Après une lecture du Dante explores both heaven and hell. In the final chords of this you can see the video went fuzzy as the plant stand on which the camera was balanced vibrated because of the resonance that the tuning sets up.
Another example of this was in Greece a few weeks ago
Rachmaninoff Sonata No.2 Op.36 in unequal temperament
YouTube |
remove preview |
|
Rachmaninoff Sonata No.2 Op.36 in unequal temperament |
The piano resonated so much that the audience seating shook as if an organ was being played. |
View this on YouTube > |
|
|
when the seating platform was vibrating.
The Bechstein was restrung in February of this year so it's not entirely stable yet and on the day I had to pull it up from 438.5 with the strings still stretching. The Stodart was changed from Kirnberger III to Meantone with a pitch correction to 425 on the day so again not entirely stable and if anyone's been familiar with tuning 222 year old pianos perhaps the shortcomings might be understable.
Best wishes
David P
------------------------------
David Pinnegar BSc ARCS
Hammerwood Park, East Grinstead, Sussex, UK
+44 1342 850594
"High Definition" Tuning
------------------------------