Is unequal temperament coming back for pipe organs

Abstract

For roughly a hundred years, equal temperament has been assumed practically without question for organs as well as pianos. But recently several organ builders have advocated unequal temperament, and put it into practice in their new instruments. Is this a minor aberration, or the wave of the future? First I will briefly review the unique acoustical problems presented by the pipe organ in choosing a temperament, and point out how past generations have coped with these problems. Second, I will report the results of a new survey of leading American organ builders. This will provide insight into the actual proportion of instruments now being unequally tempered, the reasoning and recommendations now being given by organ builders to prospective customers, and the prospects for unequal temperament to regain wide-spread importance. The author agrees with several of these builders that unequal temperament may deservedly have considerable importance and usage, yet without displacing equal temperament in the majority of church and concert-hall instruments.