a 440 with marimba?

[pianonut]

the funniest thing i ever saw with a symphony was recently when a marimbist came out and tuned the orchestra with one mallot hit and then after the orchestra tuned itself, walked off stage.

[pianonut]

with knowledge we have of woodwinds and english and german organs, pitches approximately a semi-tone under a=440 were most common in Mozart's time!  a variety of tuning systems also coexisted during the period, many theorists realizing that a good, unequal temperament could realize the particular qualities of different keys, while others favored the unity of character offered by equal temperament.

'interestingly, most string players adopted a modified type of mean-tone temperament, in which a sharpened note was considered a comma (about 22 cents) and was lower in pitch than the flattened form of the note a tone higher.  thus, mozart also distinguished large diatonic 'semitones' and small chromatic 'semitones.'  in other words, you played closest to the note that you were chromaticizing.  i originally thought that mozart was enjoying the highest of the range of semitones for sharped keys and the lowest for flat keys, but this was inverted understanding.

[pianonut]

there's a listing in the Harvard dictionary of pitches for our a=440 that goes like this:

halberstadt organ (1495)   frequency of a=506
hamburg organ (1688)  frequency of a=489
german organs (1495-1716  a=487
silberman organs (1717-50)  a=484
austrian organs (1550-1700) a=466
venetian organs (16-17th century) a=466
german zincks (16--17th century)  a=465

all the way down to french organs, 1601-1798  a=394

[pianonut]

handel's tuning fork was way off  a=423
dresden choir tuning fork (1754-1824)  a=415

ok. the french get some credit:
paris conservatoire fork (1812) a=440

[bernhard]

Check out

Hermann Helmholtz – “On the sensations of tone” (Dover), pp.495 – 511 [History of Musical pitch in Europe]

(if you haven’t yet). Most fascinating.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[timothy42b]

A couple of years ago the Boston Symphony made a formal change from A440 to A442, IIRC. 

For most players this is not a big deal.  Trombones and violins can easily adjust.

Tuned percussion was the problem.  They had to purchase new sets of things like xylophones, chimes, etc.  It ended up being quite expensive. 

[BoliverAllmon]

I hear that alot of times concert pianos are now being tuned around 445. It makes the piano a bit brighter. I prefer a softer mellower sound. now where that is I dunno. 430 maybe? just guessing really.

[pianonut]

very interesting, all of you!  i will look up the book, Bernhard.  it's something i am becoming more interested in, since pitch can determine how a piece comes across. 

[bernhard]

Also have a look at this thread:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/msg13896

Best wishes,
Bernhard.