Werckmeister mood

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Andreas Werckmeister published the first descriptions of various well-tempered moods in 1681 and 1691 . These were developed in response to the prevailing mid-tone mood at the time , in order to enable keyboard instruments to be played in all keys .

The term Werckmeister tuning is nowadays usually equated with No. III of the Werckmeister tuning described below. It is the best known and the only one that is used more frequently.

Moods

The counting of Werckmeister's temperatures (moods) begins in his most important work Musicalische Temperatur  (1691) at No. III, as he prefixes his own temperature drafts with the pure mood  (I) and the mean-tone mood  (II). Occasionally the Werckmeister moods are also referred to in the literature with the numbers I – IV (see web links), but more often with the original number III – VI.

Werckmeister III in the circle of fifths

The following shows how the individual fifths of the various Werckmeister tunings deviate from the pure tuning (frequency ratio 2: 3); pK stands for the Pythagorean comma :

Mood Fifths total
CG GD THERE AE EH H-F sharp F sharp c sharp C sharp G sharp G sharp Es Es-B BF FC
WS III -1/4 pK -1/4 pK -1/4 pK purely purely -1/4 pK purely purely purely purely purely purely -1 pK
WS IV -1/3 pK purely -1/3 pK purely -1/3 pK purely -1/3 pK purely +1/3 pK +1/3 pK -1/3 pK purely -1 pK
WS V purely purely -1/4 pK -1/4 pK purely purely -1/4 pK -1/4 pK +1/4 pK purely purely -1/4 pK -1 pK
WS VI -1/7 pK -4/7 pK +1/7 pK purely purely -1/7 pK -2/7 pK purely +1/7 pK purely -1/7 pK purely -1 pK

Since they each have fifths and thirds of different sizes, these four temperatures are not equal. By the middle of the 20th century, however, the prevailing opinion was that the Werckmeister mood - and also the well-tempered mood - was identical to the mood of the same level. The equal mood that Werckmeister advocated in his last work, Musicalische Paradoxal-Discourse , is not counted among the “Werckmeister moods” for reasons of better distinguishability .

The individual interval structure leads to a key characteristic in which the common keys sound purer than those in the circle of fifths further away.

meaning

Contrary to what was assumed for a long time, Werckmeister's moods were not the first to allow playing in all keys. For example, the organ builder Christian Förner had already tuned organs before Werckmeister in modified medium-tone without wolf fifth or at a well-tempered level.

The Förner student Zacharias Thayßner built an organ in the collegiate church of St. Servatii in Quedlinburg from 1677 to 1682 , where Werckmeister worked as an organist, and in the 1677 contract promised a temperature that could be used in all keys.

Werckmeister then devised different tuning methods from Förner's mood and described them theoretically. They represent steps on the way from the mean-tone tuning to “good” moods that are not equal and finally to the same-scale tuning. The introduction of well-tempered tunings gave the players much more flexibility in the choice of keys than was possible with the mid-tone tuning.

Even if other authors with more refined moods (e.g. Johann Georg Neidhardt , Georg Andreas Sorge ) soon appeared on the scene and Werckmeister's moods themselves were possibly not that widespread, the frequent quoting of his works shows the spread of his ideas. Johann Sebastian Bach's designation The Well-Tempered Clavier can be seen as an allusion to Werckmeister's title from 1681 organ rehearsal or a short description ... how ... to temper a keyboard ... sey , because the usual term for the tunings that were not equal at that time was not "well-tempered tuning" , but "good temperature".

literature

  • Andreas Werckmeister : Organ rehearsal or a short description ... how to temper and tune a keyboard with the help of the monochord ... Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig, 1681.
  • Andreas Werckmeister: Musicae mathematicae hodegus curiosus or correct musical pathway. Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig, 1687, reprographic reprint ISBN 3-487-04080-8 .
  • Andreas Werckmeister: Musical temperature, or clear and warm math lessons. Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig, 1691 Reprint 1997 ISBN 3-932090-12-8 .
  • Andreas Werckmeister: Musical Paradoxal Discourse. Calvisius, Quedlinburg 1707 (digitized version) .

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ So also Herbert Kelletat: On musical temperature. I. Johann Sebastian Bach and his time. 2nd Edition. Merseburger, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-87537-156-9 , pp. 28-30.
  2. ^ Johann Caspar Trost: Detailed description of the new organ work on the Augustus Castle in Weissenfels. Nuremberg 1677, p. 37. ( online ); Facsimile in: Acta Organologica . 27, 2001, pp. 36-108.
  3. ^ Contract text printed in: Klaus Beckmann: The North German School, Part II: Heyday and Decline 1620–1755. Schott, Mainz pp. 104-106.