In the seventeenth century, the idea of a 'standard pitch'
simply did not exist. Pitch varied from place to place, and
different ensembles would tune to different standards.
Praetorius comments on this at some length, because it
caused all kinds of problems with the sorts of mixed
ensembles he advocated. If I recall correctly, he notes
that church pitch was higher than chamber pitch; viols,
singers, and the lower woodwinds preferred low pitch;
violins and the higher woodwinds preferred higher pitch.
In addition, organs were cheaper to build at higher pitch,
while brass were a world unto themselves, and
instruments purchased elsewhere would be built to that
region's pitch standard.
His basic solution is to tune the groups a whole tone apart,
so they can play together by having one group transpose
by a step in whichever direction. Other sources mention
transposition as an important professional skill for organists,
and discuss good and bad transpositions and their effect
on temperament.
He also comments that pitch in Venice was very high, while
in Rome it was very low. This difference is also noted by
Italian sources; virtuoso singers who went from one city to
another had to get used to the difference in pitch.
>One of my favorite CDs in my collection is Christopher Hogwood's
>reconstruction of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. He used period
instruments ... and of course performed it at A=415.
There are more differences between period and modern
instruments than pitch--indeed, while the half-step
transposition will give the strings a more mellow tone,
I would argue that instrument construction and playing
technique have an even greater effect.
Bill McJohn
billmc@microsoft.com