Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) inherited a tuning that was “well-tempered,” noted for ease of modulation and for minute but recognizable variations between interval sizes throughout 12 major and 12 minor keys keys. Werckmeister III tuning was the primary embossment on the Baroque, which was to evade the claustrophobic prescriptions of either meantone or other spiraling irregular tunings. The tuning was first published by Andreas Werckmeister in his Orgel-Probe (1681). A MUSICAL OFFERING offers some tantalizing contradictions. Frederick the Great instigated the setting following a desire by the composer to see his newest grandchild. The court under Frederick the Great used utilized an extended sixth comma meantone, and therefore could not play Bach’s music because it required circular well temperament. Bach had only intended it for local consumption, making only100 copies of the work, and distributing them about. These canons were famously solved and published by Bach’s prominent student, Johann Philipp Kirnberger. This music contains rare examples of Bach writing in three parts without a continuo. The particular key of C minor in Werckmeister III tuning offers a sentiment that places each note lower in pitch in comparison to its equal temperament counterparts. In Werckmeister III tuning there are 39 different melodic intervals produced at six cents apart (1200 cents to the octave). The tuning is given below in cents. For more detail see “Bach and Tuning” by Johnny Reinhard available from the AFMM on its website, www.afmm.org
Werckmeister Preferred Chromatic (Werckmeister III tuning)
C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A Bb B
0 90 192 294 390 498 588 696 792 888 996 1092
Minimal and emotionally evocative compositions for solo piano in the Ryuichi Sakamoto vein from Cincinnati's Tristan Eckerson. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 18, 2020