Re: Re: Re: Re: Pitch change


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Posted by DaveC on July 10, 2000 at 14:56:19:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Pitch change posted by Rob Perelli-Minetti on July 10, 2000 at 14:14:15:

The A=440 designation was standardized in 1934. There is a comprehensive dealing of the matter in an Appendix by the translator in the Dover edition of Helmholtz's "On the Sensations of Tone," which covers the period from about 1300 to the time when the book was published, namely the 1880's (I think). A more cursory but more up-to-date article in Anthony Baines' Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments (Oxford) lists the 1934 date.

It is interesting to note that wind instrument players, especially those in military bands, were a force in the driving up of "pitch." Playing outside led these musicians to appreciate the brighter sound of higher pitched instruments. An anecdote in Helmholtz tells of a Russian(?) royal who ordered a complete set of instruments for the military band and specified a concert pitch considerably higher than what was normal for there and then. Other bands soon followed suit. Finally, as Baines tells, in England, the tradition of competition among brass bands contributed to the movement towards standardization, as well as a general lowering of concert pitch.


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