Klarinet Archive - Posting 000180.txt from 2005/10

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Upward Creeping pitch
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 04:39:25 -0400

Bill Hausmann wrote:

> Personally, I am all for a return to the sanity of a standard concert
> pitch, and A = 440 is as good as any and better than most, especially
> since it has history. But how are you going to make these fools conform?

Exactly when in history has there ever been a "standard" concert pitch?
I know that a bunch of people got together and agreed that there
*should* be such a standard and it should be A440, but I don't see much
evidence that it actually became set in stone in terms of concert usage.

Ultimately the only questions of real relevance are, "Can the orchestra
play together in tune?" and "Does it sound good?"---and if departing
from the "standard" by a couple of Hertz helps an orchestra to achieve a
performance closer to their ideal, then there really isn't much wrong IMO.

Of course, *you* might not like it, but you're not obliged to go to
their concerts. ;-)

-- Joe

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