EN - 5
Viscount
Chorale 1
Owner’s Manual
A BRIEF NOTE ON TEMPERAMENTS
In the “natural” tuning system, based on the acoustic phenomenon of harmonic voices, two important
musical intervals, the major third and the perfect fifth, cannot be made to coexist in the “pure” state
(i.e. beat-free).
Therefore, over the centuries a variety of compromise solutions known as
TEMPERAMENTS
have
been invented and realised.
These give the priority to one interval or the other, and modify them in various ways.
In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, until the end of the 15th Century, the “Pythagorean” tuning
system, in which the fifths were kept perfectly pure, was used. The resulting major third interval was
particularly unpleasant and was therefore considered a dissonance. However, the music of the time
was mainly monodic and the first vocal and instrumental polyphonic forms made wide use of the
interval of a fifth. With the early Renaissance and the start of the great age of vocal polyphony, the
interval of a major third gradually came to be heard as a consonance. The instruments with fixed
tuning, such as the organ and harpsichord, were adapted to this situation by using a system of
temperament known as Meantone, which gave priority to the major third over the fifth. This
temperament is particularly important since it was in normal use in Europe in the 16th and 17th
Centuries, until the beginning of the 18th. Here are the temperaments offered by the Chorale 1, first of
all the MEANTONE.
MEANTONE
- 8 pure major thirds: E flat – G / B flat – D / F – A / C – E / G – B / D – F # / A – C# / E – G.
- 4 unusable major thirds (diminished fourths): B – D# / F# - A# / C# - E# / A flat - C.
- 1 fifth known as the “wolf” (very dissonant extended fifth): G# - E flat.
- Highly irregular chromatic scale (meaning that chromatic compositions are given a very distinctive
voice)
- Keys usable with this temperament: C maj. / D maj. / G maj. / A maj. / B flat maj. and the relative
minors.
The temperaments which follow allow all the major and minor keys to be used, although those with the
most alterations have a highly distinctive voice, in contrast with the modern equal temperament.
WERCKMEISTER
This temperament, invented by the organist and musical theorist Andreas Werckmeister, is
recommended for performing the German musical repertoire of the late 1600s.
KIRNBERGER
This temperament, developed by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, pupil of J.S. Bach, is also suitable for
playing the German baroque composers and the works of Bach.
PYTHAGOREAN
This temperament, in which the fifths were preserved perfectly pure, dates from the Middle Ages up to
the 15th century, and can therefore be used for compositions of that period.
