DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care)

Ross W Duffin author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:WW Norton & Co

Published:31st Oct '08

Should be back in stock very soon

How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care) cover

What if Bach and Mozart heard richer, more dramatic chords than we hear in music today? What sonorities and moods have we lost in playing music in "equal temperament"—the equal division of the octave into twelve notes that has become our standard tuning method? Thanks to How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony, "we may soon be able to hear for ourselves what Beethoven really meant when he called B minor 'black'" (Wall Street Journal).In this "comprehensive plea for more variety in tuning methods" (Kirkus Reviews), Ross W. Duffin presents "a serious and well-argued case" (Goldberg Magazine) that "should make any contemporary musician think differently about tuning" (Saturday Guardian).

"[Duffin's] fine book should make any contemporary musician think differently about tuning." Steven Poole, The Guardian "[A] handy little book..." Stephen Pettitt, The Sunday Times "...explains the theory and gives an informative and readable historical account..." The Times Higher Education Supplement "...Duffin argues his case with great verve and charm." Michael Downes, The Times Literary Supplement"

ISBN: 9780393334203

Dimensions: 211mm x 140mm x 15mm

Weight: 170g

208 pages