Viscount Prestige 50 Guide Rapide page 41

o TEMPERAMENT: this parameter provides a selection of historical temperaments from various
ages and different national origin. A perfectly tuned EQUAL temperament can be selected, or
alternatively the classic MEANTONE, CHAUMONT, WERCKMEISTER, KIRNBERGER,
PYTHAGOREAN, VALLOTTI and KELLNER.
o TUNING: allows adjustment of the fine tuning of the instrument within a range of ± 50
hundredths of a semiton.
In the "natural" tuning system, based on the acoustic phenomenon of harmonic voices, two important musical intervals,
the major third and the perfect fifth, cannot be made to coexist in the "pure" state (i.e. beat-free). Therefore, over the
centuries a variety of compromise solutions known as TEMPERAMENTS have been invented and realised.
These give the priority to one interval or the other, and modify them in various ways..
In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, until the end of the 15 th Century, the "Pythagorean" tuning system, in which
the fifths were kept perfectly pure, was used. The resulting major third interval was particularly unpleasant and was
therefore considered a dissonance. However, the music of the time was mainly monodic and the first vocal and
instrumental polyphonic forms made wide use of the interval of a fifth. With the early Renaissance and the start of the
great age of vocal polyphony, the interval of a major third gradually came to be heard as a consonance. The instruments
with fixed tuning, such as the organ and harpsichord, were adapted to this situation by using a system of temperament
known as meantone, which gave priority to the major third over the fifth. This temperament is particularly important
since it was in normal use in Europe in the 16 th and 17 th Centuries, until the beginning of the 18 th . Here are the six
temperaments offered by the Prestige, first of all the MEANTONE.
MEANTONE
- 8 pure major thirds: E flat – G / B flat – D / F – A / C – E / G – B / D – F # / A – C# / E – G.
- 4 unusable major thirds (diminished fourths): B – D# / F# - A# / C# - E# / A flat - C.
- 1 fifth known as the "wolf" (very dissonant extended fifth): G# - E flat.
- Highly irregular chromatic scale (meaning that chromatic compositions are given a very distinctive voice)
- Keys usable with this temperament: C maj. / D maj. / G maj. / A maj. / B flat maj. and the relative minors.
The temperaments which follow allow all the major and minor keys to be used, although those with the most alterations
have a highly distinctive voice, in contrast with the modern equal temperament.
WERCKMEISTER
This temperament, invented by the organist and musical theorist Andreas Werckmeister, is recommended for performing
the German musical repertoire of the late 1600s.
KIRNBERGER
This temperament, developed by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, pupil of J.S. Bach, is also suitable for playing the German
baroque composers and the works of Bach.
CHAUMONT (1696)
This is based on six pure major thirds: D-F# / E-G# : D-F# / E-G# / F-A / G-B / A-C# C-E (this last one slightly flat).
It can be used mainly for French music written between the end of the XVII and the beginning of the XVIII centuries.
PYTHAGOREAN
This temperament, in which the fifths were preserved perfectly pure, dates from the Middle Ages up to the 15 th century,
and can therefore be used for compositions of that period.
VALLOTTI
This Italian temperament by Francescantonio Vallotti was later taken up in England by Thomas Young. It can be used
with effect for the 18th century Italian repertoire, but also for English music of the same period.
KELLNER
Herbert Anton, born in Prague in 1938 studied physics, mathematics and astronomy at Vienna University. His studies
led him to identify in 1975 the non equal temperament of the same name used by Bach for his "Well tempered Clavier".
Suitable for German music of the XVIII century and in particular for the compositions of Bach
A BRIEF NOTE ON TEMPERAMENTS
39
Quick Guide - Viscount Prestige 50