Meantone Temperaments on Lutes and Viols. by David Dolata
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438 Notes, March 2018 chapters are indispensable sources for New York School, indeterminacy in mu- Feldman scholars and performers. The sic, twentieth-century American music, overall tone is accessible and largely Abstract Expressionism, and interdisci- free of jargon. In addition to its contri- plinary studies of music, art, and dance. bution to the field of Morton Feldman studies, this book is a valuable addition Tim Sullivan to several related fields, including The SUNY Potsdam INSTRUMENTS Meantone Temperaments on Lutes and Viols. By David Dolata. (Publi - cations of the Early Music Insti tute.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016. [xx, 280 p. ISBN 9780253021236 (cloth), $48.00; ISBN 9780253021465 (e-book), varies.] Diagrams, tables, audio files, appen- dices, bibliography, index. Many music theorists of the sixteenth The book is divided into three re- and seventeenth centuries, Vincenzo lated (but largely independent) multi- Galilei and Giovanni Maria Artusi chapter parts: “Precedent,” “Theory,” among them, described equal tempera- and “Practice.” The first sets out to ment as the sole tuning scheme appro- debunk the “myth” (p. 9) that the lute priate for fretted instruments such as and viol were tuned exclusively in equal the lute and viol. These instruments, temperament during the sixteenth, sev- however, are performed in consort with enteenth, and eighteenth centuries. keyboard instruments tuned to mean- Despite the importance of fret place- tone temperaments. Some sources and ment, only forty or so sources address iconographical evidence also suggest the issue between 1520 and 1760. the use of non-equal temperaments Dolata makes a useful distinction be- by professional—or at least highly tween theorists, who tended to valorize skilled—lutenists and violists. Previous certain systems because of their ancient scholarship has documented the histor- pedigree (e.g., Pythagorean tuning and ical evidence for and against particular just intonation) or theoretical elegance tuning schemes for these two instru- (e.g., equal temperament), and practic- ments, but usually without offering ing musicians, who were more willing clear guidance for historically minded to endorse the sometimes messy tuning performers. The goal of David Dolata’s adjustments made by players in every- new book, published under the aus- day performance situations. As is clear pices of the Early Music Institute at from the work of these latter authors, Indiana University, is “to provide practi- whose fretting schema often imply both cal advice that can be used on a daily chromatic and diatonic semitones, basis” (p. 4) by players interested in ex- many performers adopted tempera- perimenting with meantone tempera- ments other than equal to achieve ment on their fretted instruments. As more euphonious thirds in certain such, it is the serious amateur or ad- commonly encountered keys. Several of vanced student who stands to gain the the surviving fixed metal-fret instru- most from Dolata’s treatment of the ments surveyed by Dolata corroborate topic, which is less theoretical and this fact. The instruments—a cittern, more hands-on than previous accounts bandora, and orpharion—all reject of historical tuning. strict equal temperament in favor of Book Reviews 439 what Dolata describes as “utilitarian concepts—such as the harmonic series, temperaments combining elements of beats, cents, and the Pythagorean and several varieties of meantone tempera- syntonic commas—the work embarks ment” (p. 40); and while there are of on a “Tour Through Tuning Systems” course no lutes or viols with fixed metal (chapter 5). Here Dolata sets forth the frets, these instruments would have intrinsic characteristics of Pythagorean been performed with, and thus tuned tuning, regular and irregular tempera- to, the cittern, bandora, or orpharion ments, and, finally, equal tempera- in the Elizabethan broken consort. ment. He also describes the more ad- Finally, Dolata addresses the icono- vanced concepts of cents charts and graphic evidence for meantone tem- dissonance factors. The primary value perament: paintings and other repre- of this section of the book is the way sentations of lutes and viols whose fret it relates each tuning system to specific patterns suggest its characteristic issues of lute and viol fretting, with arrangement. He discusses a number of diagrams demonstrating the spatial examples, handsomely reproduced in consequences of each system on the thirteen black-and-white plates, but, fretboard. more importantly, he also begins to de- In the final section, “Practice,” velop a set of principles to aid scholars Dolata broadens his focus to encom- in evaluating the verisimilitude of artis- pass all aspects of tuning on the lute tic representations of fretboards. Al- and viol, whether or not directly related though painters may seem to have to meantone temperament. After all, rendered their musical subjects with a one cannot tune a lute to any particular high degree of realism, this is no guar- temperament if the instrument itself antee that they have faithfully repro- fails to produce clear, sustaining, and duced the often-subtle distances sepa- consistent pitches. He begins with phys- rating individual frets. Some clues, ical and environmental factors, which however, suggest that they have—for include the strings and frets (the two example, the level of detail of other most important variables), tailpiece, complicated objects (Anatolia rugs, bridge, nut, and tuning pegs. Each books, sheet music, etc.) in the image. must be carefully considered and cali- Dolata’s goal is to “mitigate the subjec- brated to performance conditions be- tivity and wishful thinking” (p. 63) on fore these two instruments, both notori- the part of researchers dealing with am- ously difficult to tune, are ready for biguous images, and he brings a keen more advanced tuning techniques. and practiced eye to the task. His prin- These techniques include the applica- ciples should prove useful to future re- tion of tastini or miniature frets to the searchers interested in visual represen- fretboard to achieve a greater pitch tations of historical tuning. range for certain strings, double and With the precedent for meantone split frets, and slanted frets, which can temperaments on the lute and viol es- compensate for the sharpening effect tablished, Dolata turns to the mathe- caused by the thickness of frets on matical theory underpinning this and lower strings. High-resolution photo- other related tuning schemes in the graphs illustrate the implementation of book’s second section. His is a mostly these modifications on the author’s clear and amiable guide through well- lute. The book’s penultimate chapter trodden territory; the calculations, for addresses the fraught topic of continuo example, are often rounded to the playing in meantone temperament. As nearest tenth for ease of reading. Dolata recognizes, an entire book Following the introduction of basic could be written on this complicated 440 Notes, March 2018 subject, but he does a fine job identify- subject with clarity and vigor, and I ing the stakes at play and the basic imagine it will find a welcome place on strategies necessary to realize a bass line the bookshelf of the serious student in a temperament other than equal. interested in exploring the unique The final chapter addresses issues spe- soundscape attainable only through cific to the viol, including the opportu- meantone temperament. nities for pitch adjustment afforded by Michael Bane the instrument’s bow. Indiana University Much of the book’s strength lies in its accommodation of the performer. The sometimes-heady calculations and The Violin. Edited by Robert Riggs. concepts central to temperament on (Eastman Studies in Music.) the lute and viol are well illustrated in Rochester, NY: University of Rochester numerous diagrams, photographs, and Press, 2016. [x, 326 p. ISBN musical examples. In addition, a useful 9781580465069 (hardback), $39.95; appendix walks the reader through the ISBN 9781782048527 (e-book), steps of programming equal tempera- $39.95; ISBN 9781782048978 (e-book ment offset charts into their electronic for handhelds), $24.99]. Music exam- tuners, which enables quick and easy ples, illustrations, endnotes, index. placement of frets for meantone tem- perament. Dolata has not neglected Summarizing the essence of an indi- the aural component of tuning, either; vidual instrument, particularly one as he provides thirty-eight audio files, ubiquitous as the violin, is a risky en- streamed on the book’s accompanying deavor. Existing histories of the violin website, that demonstrate chords, har- have incited their share of controversy, monic progressions, and entire pieces and general studies must grapple with in various temperaments, allowing the the problem of scope, the subject ever reader to immediately hear the sonic too broad to be treated satisfactorily by ramifications of this or that tuning a single author. Robert Riggs acknowl- adjustment. edges these pitfalls in his preface, stat- Nevertheless, one could question the ing that the book is by no means com- order in which Dolata has presented prehensive and neither a history nor an his material. Although beginning with encyclopedia; instead, the goal is to the historical precedent for meantone provide “space for moderately detailed temperament makes a certain chrono- discussions” on a few topics (p. xii). logical sense, it also means that readers The majority of the five-author volume unfamiliar with the technical character- forms a chronological discussion of istics of this tuning system (i.e., most repertoire in the modern West, though readers) will have to wait until page 98 outer chapters touch on symbolism and for a thorough explanation. Switching non-Western traditions. Riggs addresses the order of the “Theory” and “Prece - The Violin to an audience of serious per- dent” sections, or even combining the formers and informed listeners, to ex- two into a larger section that discusses pand their understanding of “the musi- theory in relation to historical sources, cal and cultural contexts of the violin might have made for a smoother, more and its repertoire” (ibid.).