Syntonic Tuning

Abstract

This Essay makes at the outset an important (if somewhat controversial) assumption. This is that Syntonic tuning (Just Intonation) is not—though often presumed to be so—primarily what might be termed “a performer’s art.” On the contrary it is a composer’s art. As with the work of any composer from any period, it is the performer’s duty to render the music according to the composer’s wishes as shown through the evidence. Such evidence may be indirect (perhaps documentary) or it may be explicitly structural (to be revealed through analysis). What will be clear is the fallacy of assuming that Just Intonation can (or should) be applied to any music rather than only to that which was specifically designed by the composer for the purpose. How one can deduce whether a particular composer did, or did not, have the sound world of Just Intonation (henceforward referred to as “JI”) in mind when composing will also be explored together with a supporting analytical rationale. Musical soundscape (especially where voices are concerned) means, of course, incalculably more than mere “accurate intonation of pitches” (which alone is the focus of this essay): its color derives not only from pitch combination, but more importantly from the interplay of vocal timbres. These arise from the diverse vowel sounds and consonants that give life, color and expression. The audio examples provided here are therefore to be regarded as “playbacks” and no claim is being implied or intended that they in any way stand up as “performances.” Some care, nonetheless, has been taken to make them as acceptable as is possible with computer-generated sounds.