built and tuned by this method were sent out for the first time by Messrs. Gray & Davison, Walker, and Willis. 1854 is therefore the date of its definite adoption as the trade usage in England. There was no equally tempered organ of English make in the Great Exhibition of 1851; and before that time the present system appears to have been only used in a few isolated cases, as in the organ of S. Nicholas, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which was retuned in 1842. For the pianoforte equal temperament came into use somewhat earlier than for the organ. It was introduced into the works of Messrs. Broadwood about 1846. In France the change had already taken place, for M. Aristide Cavaillé-Coll states that since 1835 he has consistently laboured to carry out the equal principle in the tuning of his organs.[1] What little is known of the history of temperament in Germany, seems to show that the new tuning was employed there at a still earlier date, but there are reasons for believing that equally tuned organs had not become general even as late as the time of Mozart (died 1791). Emanuel Bach seems to have been the first musician who advocated in a prominent manner the adoption of equal temperament, whence we may infer that it was unusual in his day.[2] His father is also said to have enployed this system on his own clavichord and harpsichord: but even his authority was not sufficient to recommend it to his contemporary Silbermann, the famous organ-builder (1683–1753). An earlier builder, Schnitger, is said to have used something approaching it in the organ built by him about 1688–93, in the S. Jacobi Church at Hamburg. Before that time the system appears to have had hardly more than a theoretic existence in Europe.[3]
The mode of tuning which prevailed before the introduction of equal temperament, is called the Meantone System.[4] It has hardly yet died out in England, for it may still be heard on a few organs in country churches. According to Don B. Yñiguez, organist of Seville Cathedral, the meantone system is generally maintained on Spanish organs, even at the present day.[3] Till about a century ago, this tuning, or a closely allied variety, was almost universally employed, both in England and on the Continent. It was invented by the Spanish musician Salinas, who was born at Burgos in 1513, lived for many years in Italy, and died at Salamanca in 1590.[5] On account of its historical interest, as well as its intrinsic merits, the meantone system requires a short explanation. It will be convenient to take equal temperament as the standard of comparison, and to measure the meantone intervals by the number of equal Semitones they contain. The relations of the two systems may therefore be described as follows.
If we start from say D on the keyboard, and proceed along a series of four equal temperament Fifths upwards and two Octaves downwards, thus—
we arrive at a note (F♯) which we employ as the Major Third of our original note (D). This tempered interval (D—F♯) is too sharp for exact consonance by nearly one-seventh of a Semitone; but if we make these Fifths flatter than they would be in equal temperament, then the interval D—F♯ will approach the perfect Major Third. We may thus obtain a number of systems of tuning according to the precise amount of flattening we choose to assign to the Fifth. Of this class the most important is the Meantone System, which is tuned according to the following rule. First, make the Major Third (say D—F♯) perfect; then make all the intermediate Fifths (D—A—E—B—F♯) equally flat by trial. After a little practice this can be done by mere estimation of the ear; but if very accurate results are desired, the following method may be used. A set of tuning forks should be made (say at French pitch) giving c′ = 260.2, g′ = 389.1, d′ = 290.9, a′ = 435 vibrations per second. The notes c′, g′, d′, a′, of the instrument should be tuned in unison with the forks, and all other notes can be obtained by perfect Major Thirds and perfect Octaves above or below these.
There is one difficulty connected with the use of the meantone system, namely that it requires more than twelve notes to the Octave, in order to enable the player to modulate into any given key. This arises from the nature of the system; for as twelve meantone Fifths fall short of seven Octaves, the same sound cannot serve both for G♭ and for F♯. Hence if we tune the following series of meantone Fifths
E♭-B♭-F-C-G-D-A-E-B-F♯-C♯-G♯
on the piano, or on any other instrument with twelve notes to the Octave, we shall have only six Major scales (B♭, F, C, G, D, A), and three Minor scales (G, D, A). When the remoter keys are required, the player has to strike G♯ instead of A♭, or E♭ instead of D♯, producing an intolerable effect. For in the meantone system the interval G♯—E♭ is sharper than the perfect Fifth by nearly one-third of a Semitone, and the four intervals B—E♭, F♯—B♭, C♯—F, G♯—C, are each sharper than the perfect Major Third by more than three-fifths of a Semitone. The extreme roughness of these chords caused them to be compared to the howling of wolves. [Wolf.]
To get rid of the 'wolves' many plans were tried. For instance, the G♯ was sometimes raised till it stood half-way between G and A; but the result was unsatisfactory, for the error thus avoided in one place had to be distributed else-
- ↑ Ellis, in Nature for Aug. 8, 1878, p. 383.
- ↑ C. P. E. Bach, 'Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, Einleitung, sect. 14; published 1753.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ellis, 'History of Musical Pitch,' in Journal of Society of Arts, March 5 and April 2, 1880, and Jan. 7, 1881. From these valuable papers many of the facts given in the text have been derived.
- ↑ Otherwise Mesotonic; so called because in this tuning the Tone is a mean between the Major and the Minor Tones of Just Intonation; or half a Major Third. See p. 79b.
- ↑ The invention of this temperament has also been attributed to Zarlino and to Guido d'Arezzo.
