Victorian Temperament: What it is and why you should care
“Tuners are governed by instinct principally, and are necessarily emotional. They cannot be relied upon to tune at all times with equal results, for much depends upon mood. The most expert and rapid tuners are men possessed of a highly excitable, nervous and emotional temperament, verging on the border of insanity at times.” – Daniel Spillane, 1893.
The above quote should prove apparent that the process, expectations and perceptions of piano tuning has changed significantly over the past 100 years. This is not to make a judgment good or bad, but there is no question our scientific approach to tuning has evolved, along with music written for the instrument. The purpose of this article is not to outline that development but rather offer an explanation of the contrast, as we look back, and see what this means for the music. If the piano music you play was primarily written before 1910, then this discussion is very relevant and will open up a colorful new window of music expression- one that largely has been lost over time. The transformation to equal temperament was gradual indeed, but the first published instructions in English for a correct aural equal temperament method was not published until 1917 by William Braid White in his “Modern Piano Tuning and Allied Arts”. The mathematical understanding of ET is very old and there are plenty of examples throughout western history where it is referenced. Understanding is one thing, but having the acoustical knowledge necessary to aurally produce it with inharmonic fixed strings is quite another. Please note the page of requested readings for greater detail regarding that interesting history.
In a nutshell, our history of temperament over the past 600 years has been a gradual process of change from a highly restrictive style where ¾ of the keys sounded nearly perfect, the others being mostly unplayable, through systems where less keys were unplayable, to where all keys were playable but with different color, and finally today where all keys sound the same being equally out of tune. Much acoustic beauty has been compromised in this process but if one never knows what they are missing, does it matter? I believe it does, and the answer ultimately lies in the music.
The temperament style commonly in practice during the 19th Century, particularly the later half, we now call Victorian Temperament. This is a subtle, non-restrictive tuning style that preserves the similar philosophy of key color as earlier methods, but designed to fit the modern piano. Each tonality, major and minor, has its own unique characteristics and much has been written about these characteristics. If one listens carefully while playing, these characteristics are apparent and it will impact your playing technique and appreciation of the music written for it. For those who don’t listen carefully, the color is subtle enough that all this will go unnoticed- good or bad.
There has also been much written and discussed about how composers used this language of key color in their compositional styles. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, etc…. choose specific key colors for specific works and they used appropriately different compositional styles. When Chopin writes in C major he uses large block chords, and lingering harmonies (Nocturne opus 48 Nr. 1 in c min). While using the darker keys he was partial to, tenths are rarely used on a prominent beat, but the shimmering background they produce is effective and beautiful (Opus 15 Nr.2 in B major). Another favorite example is Liszt’s popular Notturno 111 in Ab. Compare how his style and mood abruptly shifts during the brief middle section in B maj. There isn’t space in this article to bring more examples to light but if interested I encourage you review the list of suggested readings that follow. The examples are countless, and consistent. No one writes in C, F or G major in the same style as B, F# or Db. A great deal has already been written about key color in Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, and easily accessible in print.
For tuners, I make available publically my own Victorian Temperament formulas, which have been honed and perfected in over 30 years of regular use. I call these Temperaments the 1/7 syntonic comma (s.c.) Victorian Temperament, and the 1/8 s.c. Victorian Temperament. Admittedly, they are difficult tunings to do aurally and require a good sense of aesthetic judgment. Fortunately, with use of User Temperaments in Cybertuner a custom template for any piano can be easily calculated and stored. This formula was first presented at the PTG National Convention in Lancaster, PA. in July 2018. I wish to note there are other Victorian temperaments available also, most notably Bill Bremmer’s Equal Beating Victorian Temperament. The EBVT may be easier to tune aurally, but the emphasis of my temperament is a more accurate balance between sharps and flats as was first theorized by Thomas Young in 1799, only tailored to more comfortably fit the scales of our modern pianos.
I present 2 styles here, and you will notice some pitches are altered hardly at all, others only slightly, and a few notes a little more. The note F has the greatest change from ET. The first temperament I call 1/7 syntonic comma Victorian (1/7 s.c. V.T.) The other is a 1/8 s.c. V.T. Use the 1/7 on any piano smaller than a 6 foot grand. Use the 1/8 s.c on any piano, but it is especially designed for larger pianos. It can also be used on small grand and uprights if a more subtle key color contract is desired for any reason. An interesting and beneficial consequence of inharmonicity is that it serves to diminish the size of the comma to be tempered. In simple terms this means that a spinet piano has less interval beating than a concert grand. A larger grand is perferred for many reasons but the intervals actually beat faster. That is why so many of the published well-tempered tuning formulas do not work well on high end modern instruments. I am happy to explain this is greater detail on request. I take full responsibly for the accuracy of these calculations and offer them freely, asking only that you respect that and not try to claim them as your own. Note the offsets below, and best of luck. I encourage professional tuners to experiment with these temperaments and enthuastically welcome your feedback. Thank you.
1/7 s.c. V.T.
A 0.00
A# 3.72
B -1.72
C 3.33
C# 0.21
D 1.11
D# 1.76
E -1.11
F 4.44
F# -1.00
G 2.22
G# 1.11
A 0.00
1/8 s.c. V.T.
A 0.00
A# 2.46
B -1.47
C 2.19
C# 0.00
D 0.73
D# 1.00
E -0.73
F 2.92
F# -1.00
G 1.45
G# 0.73
A 0.00
Dennis Johnson, R.P.T.
2018