Piano Technology and Tuning

En l'últim quart del segle xix, el piano s'havia convertit en un fenomen cultural, social i comercial de primer ordre i es trobava profundament arrelat en la societat catalana. N'és una prova la intensificació de la producció de pianos i del consum de música per a aquest instrument, la facilitat d'accés al repertori per part del públic català, la consolidació de l'ensenyament pianístic i, finalment, la presència massiva d'aquest instrument en sales de concert, exposicions universals, cafès, ateneus, casinos, teatres i salons privats. El present article aporta noves dades que expliquen el procés d'implantació i de difusió del piano des de la seva arribada a Catalunya l'últim quart del segle xviii fins a final del segle xix, quan es converteix en l'instrument més popular i en la icona cultural de referència, tal com ho evidencia el sorgiment de pianistes de relleu internacional com ara Tintorer, Granados o Albéniz. L'estudi comprèn referències a constructors i venedors de pianos com ara F. Bernareggi i M. Guarro, a comerços de venda de partitures com el de F. España, a intèrprets i professors com J. B. Pujol, a material pedagògic i centres docents de música implicats, així com als espais públics i privats compromesos en la recepció sonora de l'instrument. Aquestes dades confirmen i evidencien l'alt desenvolupament de l'activitat i de la cultura del piano a la Catalunya vuitcentista.

By the last quarter of the 19th century, the piano had become a prime cultural, social and commercial phenomenon and was deeply rooted in Catalan society. Proof of this is the increase in piano manufacturing and the consumption of piano music, the Catalan public's ready access to the repertoire, the consolidation of piano instruction and the massive presence of this instrument in concert halls, universal expositions, cafés, athenaeums, casinos, theatres and private salons. This article provides new information outlining the process by which the piano took root and spread from its arrival in Catalonia in the last quarter of the 18th century until the late 19th century, when it had become the most popular, iconic instrument, as evidenced by the emergence of internationally renowned pianists like Tintorer, Granados and Albéniz. This study encompasses references to piano builders and vendors such as F. Bernareggi and M. Guarro, shops that sold scores like F. España, performers and instructors like J. B. Pujol, instructional materials and centres that taught music, as well as the public and private spaces committed to welcoming the instrument's sound. This information confirms and reveals the profound development of piano activity and culture in 19th-century Catalonia.

Proposition d'un algorithme d'évaluation global, des « bons tempéraments », et ceux « de Bach » Broekaert Johan ; broekaert.devriendt(at)telenet.be Résumé Une formule de mesure globale des impuretés de tempérament musical est élaborée. Elle semble conduire à des résultats significatifs concernant l'évaluation de tempéraments. En plus, les résultats de classement s'accordent très bien avec les recherches de pointe, historiques et musicologiques, du professeur H. Kelletat, qui démontre quelles caractéristiques essentielles devraient être propres aux prétendus « tempéraments de Bach ».

Restoring classical tuning to the classical musical repertoire of the Fortepiano and 19th century piano reveals dimension of emotion unheard in 150 years.

There was a legend that music conveyed different emotions granted by the use of particular keys. Einstein was not the first to notice Mozart's specialised use of keys, and likewise Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and Liszt were all careful in their choice of key to match different moods. This paper examines that legend and shows with musical examples how the 18th and 19th century solutions to the scale problem gave rise to those experiences, only to be swept away in the 20th century.

The paper examines works by Bach, presenting them in a manner unthinkable for 150 years, and how the purity of scales with pure thirds in Meantone, or perfect fifths in other systems, leads to different playing and pedalling techniques through Beethoven to Chopin. The paper examines the Piano Sonatas by Haydn and Mozart in the tuning known to be used in the 18th century, and find surprising revelations relevant capable of bringing rebirth of interest in both Music and Religion in the 21st century, even their survival in the light of possible cultural collapse.

Works examined include Mozart Fantasias K594 and K608 for Mechanical Clock, Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, Beethoven Prelude 2 Op. 39, Mozart Piano Sonatas - in particular No 2 K280 F major and F minor, No 12 K322 F major, and Fantasia K475 C minor

1 Le Mésotonique Tempéré de Bach (texte extensif) Relaté à « Das wohltemperirte Clavier » Résumé Les battements d'harmoniques des quintes et tierces majeures de tempéraments historiques bien connus sont analysés. Il apparait que les battements d'harmoniques pourraient être le facteur réel et déterminant pour les tempéraments baroques, surtout parce que les battements d'harmoniques tiennent une grande importance pour le musicien interprète pour ce qui concerne l'harmonie et les affects musicaux possibles, et pour l'accordeur pour le confort et la qualité de l'accord. D'autre part, il n'est pas toujours clair si les rapports, cents ou commas publiés sont déduits à partir de calculs théoriques ou à partir de résultats concrets obtenus de mesures ou réglages faits au monocorde. L'importance révélée des caractéristiques des battements apporte des arguments supplémentaires pour l'acceptation de la proposition de Jobin relative au tempérament probable pratiqué par Bach, ou d'alternatives quasi identiques basées sur le calcul de battements. Une nouvelle hypothèse est proposée concernant les spirales dessinées sur la page de titre du « Clavier bien tempéré » de Jean Sebastien Bach. Mots clé Baroque ; bien tempéré ; mésotonique ; intervalle ; comma ; battement ; harmonique ; rapport ; cent ; Bach Mes plus sincères remerciements à Mr. A Calvet, qui a minutieusement vérifié, amélioré et corrigé la version française de ce texte, non seulement du point de vue linguistique, mais aussi de son point de vue en tant qu'accordeur professionnel. Symboles utilisés : Les symboles utilisés dans ce texte sont ceux généralement utilisés dans les publications anglophones : • Notes : les notes sont nommées selon pour l'octave qui contient la note A4, pour laquelle on a en général : ~ 415 < A4 < ~ 466 Hz. • Nombres décimaux : le point est utilisé comme séparateur entre les nombres entiers et les décimales.

A musical temperament impurity measure formula is worked out. It appears to lead to meaningful results regarding temperament evaluation. Further on, the ranking results fit very well with breakthrough historical and musicological research of professor H. Kelletat, whom demonstrates which essential characteristics should be proper to so-called candidate "Bach temperaments".

This is my 5th (in chronological order) officially released audio album called <<My Piano Solo Music - volume I (A Musical Rainbow)>> which is entirely composed by me and mainly interpreted by Note Performer 3 (the only Artificial Intelligence-based playback engine for musical notation worldwide). For the full album of scores see URLs [1a & 1b, 2]. For an “Electric harp” version of this album see URL. Have a nice, inspired audition!
#DONATIONS. Anyone can donate for dr. Dragoi’s independent research and original music at: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=AQYGGDVDR7KH2

For more than hundred-year-old period of its existence sound recording became a significant factor that determined the development of the music art in XX-XXI century. However, the significance of the sound recording and following it means of audio-communication for the piano performance hasn’t been evaluated synonymously yet. The aim of the article is to examine the evolution of views on the sound recording, to define the degree of the material's elaboration more precisely. The article generalizes spacious theoretical material; the range of the opposite opinions of philosophers, musicologists, sociologists, scientists of culture, teachers and pianists-performers are presented in the historical perspective; the contemporary view on the problems of the modern music culture is pointed out.
  The first part of the article is devoted to the aesthetic evaluation of the sound recording connected with the problem of "copy" and "original" under the conditions of technique reproduction. The second part of the work presents the views on the problems of the piano performance and listeners' perception under the conditions of the concert, studio recording and broadcasting, as well as the views on the distribution of roles in the system of music communication. The author also presents the contemporary appreciations of the given event in the limits of the information theory, theory of mass communication, the view on the sound recording as a new form of music life-being which simultaneously causes the crisis of listeners' perception and transformation of a performer's figure.
Keywords: music life-being, performance art, communication, radio, technique reproduction, aesthetic, XX century.