Research point 3.0 – Instrumental Tuning
One of the most successful tuning system was the “meantone tuning”, developed at the end of the 15th century. It focussed on the consonance of major thirds. In the time of the renaissance, each tuner had his own version of tuning, but the most used form was the “quarter-comma meantone”. The perfect fifth is flattened by one quarter of a “syntonic comma” (ratio 81:80). Within a small range this type of tuning sounded pure, even though the fifths were slightly too small. 1, 2, 3
Even though, the meantone tuning lasted up to the beginning of the 18th century, Andreas Werckmeister (1645-1706) developed another tuning system, the equal temperament, which was used throughout the Baroque-era and the following centuries. Werckmeister divided the octave in 12 “equal” intervals, which causes all of them to be slightly incorrect, but only by a small amount. Therefore, musicians were able to play in all 24 major and minor keys equally. 4, 5, 6, 7
The equal temperament has been used in western music up to this century. Nevertheless, around the world instruments were still tuned differently. In order to solve this problem, scientists of the 19th century agreed in 1859, that the A above the middle C should be 435 Hz, this frequency was officially changed again by the International Organization for Standardization in 1939 to 440 Hz. 8,9
One still has to consider, that this kind of tuning system and frequency only applies to the western world. The non-standard tuning of folk music (Celtic music, Balkan music, Jewish music, etc.) often has a much more abstract system, including narrow thirds, quarter notes and more. (A quarter tone can be described as a microtone, with an interval half the size of a semi-tone). Especially quarter tones can be found often in the “Middle East”. The music involving quarter notes is often considered to sound exotic or even “out of tune”. 10
Nevertheless, the use of quarter tones in Western music has increase over the past 80 years, even though most musicians are still unfamiliar with the sound of it. One of several musicians who worked with quarter-tonal music was the Czech composer Alois Haba (1893- 1973). Of course, this technique couldn’t be applied for every instrument, most of the pieces are written for string instruments. A further problem was the notation of the microtones, which was solved by applying special accidentals to the normal stave 11:
Research point 3.1 – Baroque Ornamentation
Throughout the history of notation, several standardized patterns were developed, which were stopped to be written out and replaced by symbols called “ornaments” (in other subjects they’re also known as decorations.). Since the usage of ornaments started in the 16th century, there has been a high variety of symbols was used, all different depending on the period, place and composer. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wasn’t the only one who wrote a list of ornaments with descriptions on how they have to be played, but even those lists didn’t always cover every symbol, and they didn’t necessarily apply for other regions or slightly different times.12
The following list will present some of the most well-known ornaments used throughout history.
- Acciaccaturas:
This ornament (can contain one or more notes) is crossed through with a diagonal line, usually bound to a following “normal” note by a slur. Theoretically, the acciaccatura is timeless and has to be played as quickly as possible.
- Appoggiaturas
Are similar to Acciaccaturas, those are played much slower than the previous ones, depending on the following note (normally as half the size of it, but it’s usually performed individually.
- Arpeggios:
Arpeggios look like vertical waves, normally placed in front of chords. They are normally played from the lowest to the highest note. In some rare occasions, the composer puts an arrow pointing down on the wave, indicating, that it has to be played the other way round. 13
Written:
Played:
- Mordents:
A mordent placed above a note indicates, that this note has to be played with a fast alteration either with the following note or the previous one from the scale.
- Trills:
Normally, thrills are indicated by a “tr”, followed by a wavy horizontal line. The note, with the thrill on top is meant to be altered with the note above it.16
- Turns:
The symbol for a turn looks similar to a horizontal 8. It is placed either on top of a note or in between two and performed like in the illustration below. The rhythmical interpretation of turns seems to be always different, mostly dependent on the performer.
In the late 18th century the use of ornaments decreased, composers preferred to write their music out fully. Only a few symbols (acciaccaturas, thrills, arpeggios), which were developed in the 16th century are still in use today. 18
Research point 3.2 Vivaldi Recomposed
One of Antonio Vivaldi’s* (1678-1741) most famous pieces is the “Four seasons”, which are four violin concertos, each representing one season. The British composer Max Richter** (born 1966) “recomposed” the piece in 2011.
Even though I am familiar with those concertos, I wasn’t able to identify all themes of Richter’s version. It starts with the famous intro of the spring, which is hidden within a cacophony of strings. With some soothing harmonies underlying it, the violins play in a canonical form. The shifts between the movements are more sudden.
The harmonies for “the summer” are almost the same as in the original. The second movement has a spatial, warm character, the melody is underlined by constant dotted notes. I enjoyed the last movement, Richter managed to keep Vivaldi’s style well, whilst putting in his own adjustments.
From the third season, autumn, I enjoyed listening to the slow, dramatic part at the end of the first movement, as well as the beginning of the second. The third movement is similar to the first movement of the spring, with long deep notes underlining a repetitive melody.
I preferred Vivaldi’s version of the first movement of the winter, which I see as my personal favourite movement. Richter created shriller sounds, which may represent the character of the winter slightly better, but I found it unpleasant to listen to. The second and third movement were more atmospheric.
Overall I would say that Richter’s version is probably more adapted to the modern ear. Nevertheless, apart from a few occasions I personally definitely prefer Vivaldi’s version.
Further information to Vivaldi’s original version can be found in my listening log.
*Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, born in Venice 1678, was an Italian composer and violinist. He was taught music by his father, who also played the violin. Some of the first works he published were his trio sonatas op. 1 in 1705. “The four seasons” were published in 1725. Vivaldi died in Vienna, 1741. 19
**Max Richter is a German born, British composer writing mainly contemporary classical and alternative pop-music. He has a classical music (composition) degree and also writes music for sage, opera, ballet and screen.20
1 Knapp, W and Peschl, W, (2005). Wege zur Musik – Oberstufe Band 1. Esslingen: Helbling, pp. 46.47.
2 Wang, E. J. (2011). Mistuning the World: A Cultural History of Tuning and Temperament in the Seventeenth Century. 1st edition. [ebook]. California: UMI. pp: 60-61. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/919079524?accountid=14178&pq-origsite=summon [Accessed 13.09.2019]
3 Halewood, M. (2015). On equal temperament: Tuning, modernity and compromise. History of Human Sciences [online] Volume 28, Issue 3, pp 3-21. Available at: https://journals-sagepub-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/doi/epub/10.1177/0952695114567480 [Accessed 13.09.2019]
4 Knapp, W and Peschl, W, (2005). Wege zur Musik – Oberstufe Band 1. Esslingen: Helbling, pp. 46.47.
5 Halewood, M. (2015) On equal temperament: Tuning, modernity and compromise. History of Human Sciences [online] Volume 28, Issue 2 pp. 3-21. Available at: https://journals-sagepub-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/doi/epub/10.1177/0952695114567480 [Accessed 14.09.2019]
6 Wang, E. J. (2011). Mistuning the World: A Cultural History of Tuning and Temperament in the Seventeenth Century. 1st edition. [ebook]. California: UMI. pp: 69-70. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/919079524?accountid=14178&pq-origsite=summon [Accessed 13.09.2019]
7 Lindely M, and Ortgies I, (2006). Bach-Style Keyboard Tuning. Early Musis. [online] Vol. 34, No. 4, pp 613-623. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/stable/4137309?pq-origsite=summon&seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents [Accessed: 14.09.2019]
8 Wang, E. J. (2011). Mistuning the World: A Cultural History of Tuning and Temperament in the Seventeenth Century. 1st edition. [ebook]. California: UMI. pp: 55-60. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/919079524?accountid=14178&pq-origsite=summon [Accessed 13.09.2019]
9 Swenson, E. (2006). The History of Musical Pitch in Tuning the Pianoforte. The Horn Call- Journal of the International Horn Society. [online]. Vol. 36, Iss 3, pp. 43-47. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/1227177?pq-origsite=summon [Accessed 15.09.2019]
10 Wang, E. J. (2011). Mistuning the World: A Cultural History of Tuning and Temperament in the Seventeenth Century. 1st edition. [ebook]. California: UMI. pp: 55-60. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/919079524?accountid=14178&pq-origsite=summon [Accessed 13.09.2019]
11Jn, Y. (2015). A Study of Quarter-Tone Music for Solo Violin by Alois Haba. 1st ed. [pdf]. Cincinnati: ProQuest. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/docview/1729520338?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14178 [Accessed 25.09.2019]
12 Taylor, E. (1989) The AB Guide to Music Theory-Part 1. 24th ed. ABRSM, pp. 87-97
13 Taylor, E. (1989) The AB Guide to Music Theory-Part 1. 24th ed. ABRSM, pp. 87-97
148notes [image] Avalable at: https://www.8notes.com/glossary/acciaccatura.asp [Accessed 27.09.2019]
15piano-playit(2019), [image], Available at: http://www.piano-play-it.com/appoggiatura.html [Accessed 27.09.2019]
16Taylor, E. (1989) The AB Guide to Music Theory-Part 1. 24th ed. ABRSM, pp. 87-97
17 notation. [image]. Available at: https://www.notation.com/ComposerDocs26/DiscardIndex.html?editing_arpeggios.htm [Accessed 27.09.2019]
18 Taylor, E. (1989) The AB Guide to Music Theory-Part 1. 24th ed. ABRSM, pp. 87-97
19 Thompson, W. (2001). The Great Composers- An illustrated guide to the lives, key works and influences of over 100 renowned composers. London: Joanna Lorenz, p. 52
20 Deutsche Grammophon (2018). Max Richter-Biography. [online]. Available at: https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/gb/artist/richter/biography [Accessed: 10.10.2019]
Dianas Learning Log 