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Re: History of Concert A=440

Author: Dee
Date: 2004-12-11 14:39

A=440 was actually in common use for orchestral type groups starting in about 1896. It was referred to as "Low Pitch" and instruments were often so marked. At the same time, "High Pitch" of A =456 or so was also in common use, especially for bands, and instruments were often so marked. Thus there was a period of about 40 years when both standards were commonly used with Low Pitch finally taking over. By the time the US officially adopted the standard of A=440, most players had been playing in ensembles using that defacto standard for many years. It's actually fairly rare to find High Pitch instruments made after World War I.

As far as retuning the clarinets from High Pitch to Low Pitch, it can't be done effectively. Even though you can get one note in tune by a longer barrel, the spacing between the holes is off for a scale based on the High Pitch standard so the intonation will be off.

With High Pitch instruments all you can really do is find a group using this pitch for historical performances, play alone, or hang the instrument on the wall.

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