“Propriety and Justness” in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

By the eighteenth century, the heyday of Just Intonation as an aspirational non-keyboard tuning system was long past. Yet there are some period theorists who discuss it explicitly and eighteenth-century performers who use terms like “propriety,” “justness,” and “purity.” This could suggest an inclination toward the practice and indicate that it was still a viable tuning for the age. In this study, I examine the historical evidence for the use of Just Intonation in the eighteenth century, unpacking theoretical statements and scrutinizing musical examples. The aim is to discover what vestiges of the practice remained and what effect, if any, just tuning might appropriately have on performance of that repertoire today.