lutes and viols had been strained. Harpsichords had long been
preferred at the lerlia minore The Chorlon of Praetorius,
al 422-8, is practically the same pitch as that of the fork the
possession of which has been attributed to Handel, al 422- 5.
It IS a very fa1r mean between G Silbermann's 18th-century
Dresden pitch, al 415, and the organs of Renatus Harris, al
428 7. Stein tuned Mozart's piano to a fork al 421-6, and the
Broadwood pianos used at the London Philharmonic Society
in its first concerts (1813) were tuned to a fork 02 506-8, which
gives a mean tone al 423'7.
According to Schindler (Niederrheinische Musik-Zeilung, 1855 Nos 8 and 9) and the report of the French Commission, 1859. the rise in pitch began at the Congress of Vienna in 1816, the military bands being the cause. With the improvements in wind instruments this continued, as a more brilliant effect was gained In 1823 Weber's Euryaullze is reco1'ded as having been played in Vienna at al 437 5, and in 1834 Kreutzer's Naclzllaqer at al 440. The measurements are doubtful, but the upward tendency is clear. Scheibler, by his simple and accurate tonometer, has recorded pitches in Vienna about 1834 from al 433 9 to 440-2. About that time, or it may be a few years earlier, Sir George Smart established a fork for the Philharmonic Society, al 433 2. Forks intended for this vibration number, stamped “Philharrnonic, ” were sold as late as 1846. But about that year the performing pitch of the Society had reached 452 5 Sir Michael Costa was the conductor 1846-1854, and from his acceptance of that high pitch the fork became known as C0sta's, and its inception was attributed to him, though on insufhcient grounds In 1874 a further rise in the fork to al 454 ss as instigated by Sir Charles Hallé The British army is bound by His Majesty's Rules and Regulations to play at the Philharmonic pitch, and a fork tuned to al 452-5 in 1890 is preserved as the standard for the Military Training School at Kneller Hall. But the Philharmonic Society adopted the Diapason Normal in 1896, and the military bands have not gone witl1 it. In point of fact, they are gradually going higher, and the brass bands, which are so important in the North of England and in Wales, are not behind them
It was the irrepressible upward tendency that caused the French government in 1859, acting with the advice of Halévy, Meyerbeer, Auber, Ambroise Thomas and Rossini, to establish by law the Diapason N armal. Other countries have gradually followed and, th few exceptions, the low pitch derived from the Diapason Normal may be said to prevail throughout the musical world. Great Britain has been the last to fall in, but the predominance of the low pitch, introduced at Covent Garden Opera since 1880, is assured The proprietors of Queen's Hall, London, did much for it when they undertook the alteration, at great expense, of their large concert organ, which had only just been erected In 1896 the Philharmonic Society decided upon a performing pitch, ostensibly at 68° Fahr., of al 439; and in 1899 Messrs Broadwood made a successful effort to get this vibration number accepted by their competitors in Great Britain. The high pitch remains only where there are large concert organs not yet lowered, and with the military and brass bands. The consideration of temperature as affecting the use of a standard pitch was not attended to when the French government issued its ordonnance The 15° Centigrade attached to the description of the standard fork in Paris was intended for the dehnition and verihcation of the fork only. The alteration of the fork due to heat is scarcely perceptible, but wind instruments, and particularly the organ, rise almost proportionately to the increase in temperature of the surrounding air, because sound travels at an enhanced rate as the temperature rises. The coefficient of this rise is equivalent to half a vibration (0-5) per degree Fahr per second D I Blaikley (Essay on Musical Pitch, Catalogue of the Royal Military Exhibition, Chelsea, 1890), and Victor Mahillon (Catalogue descriplif el analylique du M usée, Bruxelles, troisiéme volume, append ice, 1900) have recorded their experience of Wind instruments under changes of temperature. The French Commission, in establishing the Diapason Normal, should have chosen a temperature of 20° C. There would then have been less disturbance owing to the breath of the players and heat of the theatres or concert-rooms. It would be a great advantage to get this higher grade generally adopted. It was proposed in the Stirnm-Conferenz at Vienna in 1885, but not carried. Table III., showing orchestral pitches obtained in 1899, for the measurements of which the writer is responsible, prove how chimerical it is to hope for greater accuracy than is found between 435 and 440 vibrations a second for al, inasmuch as temperature must always be reckoned with. Table I
1495 to 1690. Pitch descending Authority. V. at 59° F. Halberstadt organ 1495 Ellis a' 505-8 Arnold Schlick, Heidelberg 151 1 Ellis 502-6 St Jacobi, Hamburg 1688-1693 Schmahl 489-2 St Catharinen, Hamburg 1543 Degenhardt 480 8 Praetorius. Cammerloa 1618 Hipkins 475 65 Durham organ 1683 Armes and Ellis 474-1 Great Franciscan organ,
Vienna c 1640 Ullmann 457-6
Hampton Court organ 1690 Ellis 441-7 Table II.
1511 to 1900. Pitch ascending Authority. V at 59° F Arnold Schlick, Heidelberg 151 1 Ellis al 377-0 Strasburg Minster. A. Silbermann
1713-1716 Stockhausen 393-2
Trinity College, Cambridge. 1759 Smith and Ellis, 395-2 Versailles organ 1789 M'Leod and Ellis 395 8 Praetorlus “ Tertia minore ” 1618 Hipkins 396-4 St Michael's, Hamburg 1762 Schmahl 4o7-9 Pascal Task1n's tuning-fork,
Paris. 1783, Lissajous 409-0
St Jacobi, Hamburg, “ Tertia
minore ” stop 1688*1693 l Schmahl 411-4 Hofcapelle, Dresden 1754 Nake 415-0 St Sophie, Dresden, G.
Silbermann 1722 ' Nake . 415-5
Freiberg. G Silbermann 1714 Nake 419-5 Seville Cathedral 1785-1790, Ellis 4 419-6 Old English tuning-fork c 1715, Ellis . 419-9 Imperial Russian Court
Church Band 1860 Nake and Ellis 421-2 Stein's tuning-fork, Vienna 1780 Nake and Ellis 421-6 Handel's tuning-fork 1751 Ellis 422-5 Praetorius Chorton 1618 Ellis andHipk1ns 422-8 Peppercorn's tuning-fork
(Broadwood) 1813 Ellis 423-5
Renatus Harris, St Andrew's,
Undershaft 1696 ' Ellis . 427-7
Renatus Harris, Newcastleon-Tyne
1670 Ions and Ellis 428 7
C MeeI'ens, proposed standard
derived from C2 512 and
favoured by Boito and
other Italian musicians 1876 Meerens . . 432-0 iS1r George Smart, Ph1lhar~
monic 1826~1834 3 Ellis . 433-2
Scheibler No. I., Vienna 1
orchestra 1834 l Scheibler 433-9
Montal's tuning-fork, Paris
opera 1829 CagnarddelaTour 434-0
Scheibler No. II, Parisopera
1834 I Scheibler . X 434-o
Re1ssiger's tuning-fork, Dresden
1826 l Nake 435 0
Paris Diapason Normal.
Ordonnance 1859 Fr. Comm. 435'0
Scheibler No. III., Paris
Conservatoire 1 834 Scheibler 435 -2 Paris Diapason Normal. f
Standard fork . 1859 Koenig 435-45
Paris opera . . 1836 Cagnard delaTour 437-0 Scheibler, Stuttgart, proposed
standard (440 at 69° F.) 1834 Scheibler 440-2 Scheibler No IV, Vienna S h I
o era 183 c eib er 0-Huflah's
tuning-fork . 184; Ellis iii g
Naples opera. San Carlo 1857 Lissajous 444'9 Society of Arts intended for .
444 (Since 1886 the
Society of Arts has advocated the
Diapason Normal)1860 Ellis l 445-7
