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Before the 19th century, Werckmeister and Kirnberger temperaments were the norm. See


http://www.novelmusic.com/roland/Technical/default.htm

for more information on this.

Do you think the music from this era should be played in these temperaments rather than in equal temperament?

There were no norms for temperament before the 19th century. Most people tuned their own instruments, and did as best they could according to however they were taught. The temperaments of the time were mostly designed to be simple to tune. For the most part, they are not suitable for modern pianos, which have much tighter tolerances for tuning than pre-19th century instruments.

Even today, most instruments do not have tuning tolerances anywhere near as tight as the modern piano.

Equal temperament enables us to modulate into different keys with no discomfort to (adjusted eardrums) ...which represented a huge advance in keyboard music ... and gave JS Bach the means
to honour us with his WTCs (books I and II) in 48 different keys (both Major and Minor).

We have got so used to the slight adjustment to mean temperament, that we are unaware that our pianos are specially tuned to equal temperament.

Interestingly the major scale is out of whack as follows:
(all relative to a base of 51.00 in Savarts ... an acoustic measure)

Second -2.7
Third 0.0
Fourth +1.4
Fifth -1.4
Sixth +1.3
Seventh - 1.4
Octave 0.0

Too liberal a dose of the Second makes my dog howl!! ... and you can see why, being double that
of any other.

Among "Unequal Temperaments" enthusiasts (such as myself) there is sometimes expressed a feeling that ET can be rather lifeless, and that using a "Well Temperament" brings a unique energy to the music. I am not a temperamental fundamentalist. Personally, I like playing in a good ET, but I love playing in EBVT III, a mild well temperament.

As BDB implies, the question about whether or not to play music from the period on a piano tuned to a temperament from the period (take your pick), is skewed by the fact that we are now playing on a much different instrument than when these temperaments were developed! That said, though, "Well Temperaments" do have a place on modern pianos.

You might find these threads from the Tuner/Tech forum interesting:

"My Piano In EBVT III": Lots of examples of some very fine pianos (and one not so fine piano) being played a variety of styles of music from Bach to "Out of Africa," tuned to the Equal Beating Victorian Temperament III.

Some sweet videos: an older piano tuned to an Unequal Temperament: Discussion about the way historical temperaments shape performances and enhance musical meaning, that includes a fascinating exploration of Chopin's music (among others) played on a few older pianos tuned, as the tech says, in "a very standard unequal temperament which I believe is the strongest I can get away with in presenting classical music in all keys." Discussion regarding the meaning of "standard unequal temperament" ensues...

Looking for an objective explanation of UTs: Watch for posts by Ed Foote, RPT, who was the tech who tuned the piano in the CD, "Beethoven in the Temperaments: Historical Tunings on the Modern Concert Grand," which is a CD well worth a listen if you can get a hold of one.

Now, it looks like you are also throwing electric piano samples into the mix, which adds a' whole 'nother level of auditory complexity into the mix!

Good luck with your exploration!

--Andy

I think you are misinformed regarding the WTC. "Well-tempered", as Bach used it, was something other than "equal temperament".

from wr

"I think you are misinformed regarding the WTC. "Well-tempered", as Bach used it, was something other than "equal temperament"."

Please explain "something other".

regards, btb

There isn't agreement about exactly what tuning he used, AFAIK, but whatever it was, it was not equal temperament. It's not called the "Equal-Tempered Clavier", after all.

Here's just a sample of the literature on the subject...

http://sites.google.com/site/bachtuning/literature

For my part, I definitely think music should be played on instruments tuned to the temperaments that the composer was expecting, if possible. Since I started tuning my pianos in historic temperaments, the music I play comes alive as never before. It's amazing how much more significant modulations in Sonatas become when played on pianos tuned to a well-temperament. It really seems like a major event is happening when the keys change, unlike with equal temperament where all the keys sound the same. It's easy to see how that form was such a success for so long if it was being played in temperaments that preserved the "character of the keys."

There are some problems with using historic temperaments on pianos. however. Pianos have a kind of tuning-fidelity (unlike harpsichords, which are far more tuning-promiscuous). You can't just change tunings at will on a piano, as the previous tuning will persist to some degree. Pianos have to be tuned in new temperaments several times before the new temperament sticks. Thus, unless one has several pianos to work with, repertoire options become limited, if authenticity is the goal. I suppose there are some general purpose well-temperaments, like the subtle Thomas Young 1799, which can be used for most any music, but it wouldn't really be historically authentic. Any well-temperament is better than equal-temperament for tonal music, in any case. Now, if you want to play 12-tone music, equal-temperament is probably the best type of tuning, as each interval should sound the same as all the others in that type of music.