Beethoven In The Temperaments, Enid Katahn

While reading back over Kyle Gann's website about historical tunings in research for my first post about tuning, I came across his recommendation for the CD Beethoven In The Temperaments. (The link is to the Amazon page, but Amazon is currently out of stock and will remain so indefinitely.) The CD is a recording of four Beethoven sonatas--the "Pathétique," the "Moonlight," the "Waldstein" and the creatively named "Op. 14 No. 1." The twist is that they're performed on a modern concert grand piano (a Steinway D, for those for whom that means something) that's tuned in two different historical well temperaments common in Beethoven's time: Prinz temperament and Thomas Young temperament. (The pianist is Enid Katahn, and the piano tuner is Edward Foote.) So, essentially, this is a recording of Beethoven's sonatas as Beethoven might have heard them. (Had he not been deaf, of course....)

I thought it sounded intriguing (no pun intended), so after failing to find it on iTunes, Amazon, or anywhere else I finally ordered it from ArkivMusic. It arrived on Thursday evening, and I listened to the Pathétique, which is performed in the Prinz temperament. The liner notes said that this temperament was chosen for the great contrasts between keys: pure and consonant for the "home keys" of the piece, and more and more dissonant the further the tonality went from "home."

(Minor digression: I love Steinways. I'm a huge fan of dark, mellow and rich when it comes to sound, and Steinways are the epitome of that sound in a concert grand. Yamahas, while more popular and much cheaper, tend to be much brighter. If you play guitar, you'll understand: Steinways are like Martins--sigh--while Yamahas are like Taylors. The latter are good, maybe even really good, but ultimately just can't compare. For me, at least.)

I have to say that I didn't notice a world of difference--the difference was certainly there, but it wasn't nearly as pronounced as I anticipated (or perhaps hoped). In the opening chords of the sonata (click here and push the play button twice--although of course it's in equal temperament), I could hear slight differences in the resonances of the chords--they were somewhat richer. But the most notable were the dissonances, especially in big chords: they really stood out, almost uncomfortably in places, because of the temperament. It's interesting, and a foreign concept to those of us raised on equal temperament, that dissonances in other tunings can be dissonant not only because the notes themselves clash (like minor ninths, for example), but also because the notes aren't quite in tune with one another. As I mentioned, the Prinz temperament showcases differences in keys, and gets more dissonant the further afield the piece roams; so some of the dissonances in the "further afield" keys can get positively crunchy. (Yes, that's a technical term.)

Overall, it was a rich sound, certainly more colorful and vibrant than an equal-tempered piano. Another interesting temperament experience. It's no wonder musicians who work in just and well temperaments all the time consider equal temperament so bland.

Beethoven In The Temperaments, Enid Katahn