Rodgers Allegiant 657, Owner'S Manual

Page: 35 / 76

25
HARP
STRINGS
SLOW STRINGS
RICH CHOIR
BOY CHOIR
PERCUSSION
CHOIR AAHS
WARM STRINGS*
Orchestral Voices indicated with an asterisk (*) are not available on the 657.
Temperaments
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in authentic interpretation of organ literature
written before the adoption of Equal Temperament tuning. Until the middle of the 18th century,
the relative pitches of the notes of the scale were chosen to favor music written in key signatures
with few sharps or flats; more remote keys produced varying degrees of aural distress. Many
composers of the day utilized moderately out-of-tune intervals to evoke momentary tension for
the listener. With the adoption of the Equal Temperament (Well-Tempered) tuning system,
almost universal today, all keys became equally out of tune, and the intentions of these earlier
composers were lost, to some degree.
The Rodgers 657/677 offers a choice of eight temperaments: Equal, Mean-Tone, Kirnberger,
Werckmeister I, Werckmeister III, Young I, Young II and Pythagorean. This selection of
temperaments allows the organist to hear these historical works as their composers heard them,
or to explore the application of unequal temperament to new music.
Ancient Temperaments
Pythagorean: Pythagoras (582-500 B.C.) was a brilliant Greek theorist and mathematician.
The Pythagorean temperament is characterized by pure fifths and fourths. The Pythagorean
theory founded a diatonic scale that served as a model throughout the Middle Ages.
Mean-Tone: Mean-Tone temperament improves on the Pythagorean tuning by slightly
contracting each of the four fifths needed to generate a major third. Major thirds and in-tune
fifths are slightly narrow, and the differences between the major and minor seconds are
smoothed out. Many artists now prefer Mean-Tone temperaments when performing 15th
through 17th century repertoire.
J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier , written in 1722 and between 1738 and 1742, is a
collection of 24 paired preludes and fugues written in every major and minor key. The title
refers to the use of a temperament in which all keys are satisfactorily in tune, but not
necessarily an absolutely equal temperament.
Well Temperaments
Kirnberger: Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721-1783) was a German composer and pupil of
Bach from 1739 and 1741. His temperament favored pure fifths, as in the Pythagorean
model, but performance was improved in many keys.
Werckmeister I and III: Andreas Werckmeister experimented with temperaments in the latter
part of the 17th century. In Werckmeister I he further refined the Mean-Tone temperament.