Klarinet Archive - Posting 000447.txt from 1998/08

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] R-13 Prestige vs R-13
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 03:24:55 -0400

On Sun, 16 Aug 1998, Bill Hausmann wrote:

> Can anybody tell me why, after years of wonderful stability in pitch
> standard at A=440, won at great cost over a long time, some bozos decided
> to start tinkering with it again? Are instrument manufacturers so
> desperate to sell new horns that they are promoting the obsolescence of the
> old ones by causing them to be out of tune? Or is something else afoot?

The manufacturers aren't likely to be the culprits in the change
of pitch. The orchestras themselves are precipitating the change.
One factor is relativism. Conductors recognize that an audience
will respond subconsciously if the orchestra's pitch is higher
than the standard to which they (the audience members) are accust-
omed. Thus, they (the Berlin Phil. under Karajan, for example) play
intentionally sharp, thus giving them a seemingly more brilliant sound.
Since the whole orchestra is sharp, nobody notices it as such, but
there is a difference in overall perception. Haven't many, if not
most European orchestras, played above 440 for quite some time now
anyway?

Neil

-------------------------------------------------------------------------