This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 Excerpt: ...Nations are now the Lord's." Changes of pitch have been very marked in the past. Handel's tuning fork of 1740 gave for A 416 vibrations, while the Paris standard of 1858 is 448. This is about two-thirds of a tone in a little over a century. The constantly ascending pitch made it necessary, for the sake of voices, to ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 Excerpt: ...Nations are now the Lord's." Changes of pitch have been very marked in the past. Handel's tuning fork of 1740 gave for A 416 vibrations, while the Paris standard of 1858 is 448. This is about two-thirds of a tone in a little over a century. The constantly ascending pitch made it necessary, for the sake of voices, to adopt a fixed and lower standard. This is now established at 435 vibrations for the A. These changes in the pitch will not affect the statements that have been made about the peculiarities of keys, for C becomes B7, or nearly so, D becomes C, and so on. Absolute pitch is also claimed, but it will be seen from this that it is but the memory of tones, and has no other value. William Gardner, a gossipy English writer, has also given his views on this subject. He is, however, just as much at sea. The conceit is a fanciful one, and is largely entertained by those who know little of the great masters. It would be easy to find hundreds of compositions utterly at variance with this " charming idea." The probability in regard to the character of the keys is, that they were chosen by the composer to suit the compass of the voices. G, A, A, B, or B?, would be convenient for certain plagal melodies for higher voices, while C, D, E, E1, and F, might be taken for Soprano or Tenor melodies largely authentic, or having motives generally above the key note. These keys would also answer for plagal melodies for lower voices. Other elements would enter into the ques tion of contrast, of which the most impor tant would be rhythm or tone combinations in the harmony. The imagination should be cultivated, but it must not be influenced by fanciful theories inconsistent with the real facts. Extravagance in these matters can only do harm, for such notions m...
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Add this copy of A Handbook of Vocal Music to cart. $61.07, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2016 by Palala Press.
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