Are modern interpidations of classical music completely diffrent from the original interpidations? Since they didnt have the recording instruments like we do today, how did they know what the musical pitch of the note “A” really sounded like? If the got it from those who claimed to have perfect pitch how did they get perfect pitch without any uniformity in pitch? And if those people got there perfect pitch from a tuning fork or pitch pipe how’d they tune the tuning fork or pitch pipe? The question I’m getting at here is: could the sound frequency of the musical notes change because they were only guessing and how much would it change?
interpidations?
OK, so I spelt it wrong. Sue me. replace all instances of interpidations with interpetations. (the’re both pronouced the same way so whats the diff?)
I don’t know what an ‘interpetation’ is either but anyway, many instruments have almost perfect pitch. Tuning forks and bells are obvious examples. Wind instruments are fairly stable as well. So I don’t think there has been much chance for pitch shift over the years.
Interestin question though, when was the pitch/scale standardized? There is no physical reason why 440 Hz sounds better than, say, 447 Hz, is there?
I think the word you are looking for is “interpretation” - you forgot the r after the p.
I recently saw a fantastic documentary on the development of “classical” music, which was called “Howard Gooodall’s Big Bangs”. He traced the development of key factors (big bangs) like standardised annotation, even temperament, harmonisation etc.
I can’t recall whether he cited how a standard reference point for tuning was devised, but I am sure there would have been a scientific method of determining exact pitch. Perhaps in the same manner that a tuning fork is made: use a particular metal, cut to a precise shape and dimension, so that when it is struck, a reference note will be sounded. This could also be done by using a wind pipe of some sort (ala tuning pipe for guitarists).
Prior to development of a standard temper (12 note octave as used in western music), scale and annotation, early music texts often contained only the words, typically religious chants. Much of these were passed on by verbal tradition, but if you had not heard a particular chant previously, you had no idea as to the “melody”. Gradually, markings indicating upward or downward movements in pitch began appearing above the lyrics. This was further developed over many years into a four line stave, the precursor to the five line stave the was only totally accepted just prior the baroque period.
In fact, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the first comprehensive set of exercises for the standardised keyboard that we know today: “The Well tempered Clavier”, in which pieces were arranged in order of increasing pitch and complexity. The first piece was in C major, the second in C# minor, the third in C# major etc.
Of course, these pieces would have sopunded comp[letely different in Bach’s day, because instruments were not as robust as they are now, and most importantly, the piano was not invented until about 1750.
If you get the chance to see “Big Bangs”, do it! I am sure you will find it fascinating.
Knock softly but firmly, 'cause I like soft firm knockers…
“A” was first standardized as 440hz in 1939 (International Standards Association conference, London); the previous standard was 435hz set in 1859 by the Paris Academy. Here is a good article on the history of pitch: www.uk-piano.org/history/pitch.html
Not only has standard pitch changed over the years, but standard of intonation has as well. We currently use equal temperament, in which all half-steps are equal intervals. Equal temperament was first developed around 1600 but didn’t become standard until the late 1800’s. There have been other intonation systems used throughout history, such as Pythagorean, mean tone, and just intonation.
Here is an article on the acoustics of different intonation systems, with sample sounds: www.hlalapansi.demon.co.uk/Acoustics/MusicMaths/MusicMaths.html
Britannica’s article on the subject is also a good source.
Western (ie European based)music is based mostly on the writings of Greek philosophers like Pythagoras and Aristoxenos as well as Aristotle, Ptolemy and Plato (“When the mode of music changes the walls of the city shake” Plato “Whole lotta’ shakin’ goin’ on” Jerry Lee Lewis)Most of the scientific aspects are derived from these (A=440, scales, modes). The rest is a matter of what works and common practice. Like car manufacturers, the answer to “Why do we do it this way” is usually because we always have. Years ago somebody played or sang something and some other people liked it enough to imitate it and they told two friends and so on until a music theorist wrote an article that showed why it works that way and viola: common practice. There probably has been some shifting of pitch center over time. Heck, my a cappella choir can change pitch center four times in one song! Interpretations do definatly change. The Romantic era saw a revival of Baroque pieces but they where Bach would have played with exact tempo and simple dynamics (we know from his writings) a performer in 1870 would have added rubato and Fortisimo as he saw fit. And today I seem to enjoy music better with a drums and a lot of bass.
Benke