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HOW EQUAL TEMPERAMENT RUINED HARMONY

Name: HOW EQUAL TEMPERAMENT RUINED HARMONY
Author: Ross W. Duffin
ISBN: 0-393-06227-9

AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

by Ross W. Duffin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 13, 2006

A comprehensive plea for more variety in tuning methods, interesting but mostly inaccessible to the non-professional.

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Duffin (Music/Case Western Reserve Univ.; Shakespeare’s Songbook, 2004) sets out to challenge the modern perception that equal temperament is the only way to tune an instrument for performance.

This is a work geared toward musicians and musicologists, rather than the amateur symphony-goer. While the first chapter does try to give an overview, the author assumes a basic knowledge of acoustic principles. Readers should be familiar with intervals, semitones and frequencies of pitch to gain true meaning from the text. Equal temperament has been the overwhelming standard for instrument tuning since at least 1917. In the simplest terms, it is a method in which the octave is divided into 12 equal tones, such as in a modern piano. One of the downsides to equal temperament is that a G-sharp, for example, makes the same sound as an A-flat. By using alternative tuning methods, each sharp or flat is distinctive. Equal temperament was designed so a keyboard instrument could play in every key without being retuned, but opponents argue that convenience is gained at the expense of subtle coloring and variation. Duffin maintains that even after equal temperament was invented, composers and professional musicians still chose to use alternative methods—therefore, he says, performance in equal temperament creates a different sound than the composer originally intended. Duffin’s history of tuning includes sidebars that explain concepts and brief biographies of some of the musicians and theorists he cites. Illustrations and reproductions of musical scores help shed light on complexities—and several hand-drawn cartoons poking fun at some of the author’s ideas add a touch of humor.

A comprehensive plea for more variety in tuning methods, interesting but mostly inaccessible to the non-professional.

Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2006

ISBN: 0-393-06227-9

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.