The problems for modern singers can be heightened by having to sing at higher pitches than their counterparts from the past.
With the difference in orchestral pitch between our British Orchestras, which still adhere to "concert pitch" and certain famous European and American orchestras which tune slightly higher, it is clear why reviews sometimes state that "XXX" orchestra has such a brilliant sound. By tuning higher, the sound becomes more brilliant. This does not help singers who are singing today at CG in e.g. Aida and the next time, in the same work, at a different house in a different country, where the pitch is fractionally higher, and the reviews say that "so and so" sounded very tight at the top of his/her voice.
I quote from Wikipedia to give non-musicians an idea of "Concert Pitch", as we know it in Britain.
A = 440 Hz is the only official standard and is widely used around the world. Many orchestras in the United Kingdom adhere to this standard as concert pitch. In the United States some orchestras use A = 440 Hz, while others, such as New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, use A = 442 Hz. The latter is also often used as tuning frequency in Europe, especially in Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway and Switzerland. Nearly all modern symphony orchestras in Germany and Austria and many in other countries in continental Europe (such as Russia, Sweden and Spain) tune to A = 443 Hz.
In practice the orchestras tune to a note given out by the oboe, and many oboists use an electronic tuning device. When playing with fixed-pitch instruments such as the piano, the orchestra will generally tune to them—a piano will normally have been tuned to the orchestra's normal pitch. Overall, it is thought that the general trend since the middle of the 20th century has been for standard pitch to rise, though it has been rising far more slowly than it has in the past. Some orchestras like the Berliner Philharmoniker now use a slightly lower pitch (443 Hz) than their highest previous standard (445 Hz).
Many modern ensembles which specialize in the performance of Baroque music have agreed on a standard of A = 415 Hz. An exact equal-tempered semitone lower than A = 440 would be 440/21/12 = 415.3047 Hz; this is rounded to the nearest integer. In principle this allows for playing along with modern fixed-pitch instruments if their parts are transposed down a semitone. It is, however, common performance practice, especially in the German Baroque idiom, to tune certain works to Chorton, approximately a semitone higher than A-440 (460–470 Hz) (e.g., Pre-Leipzig period cantatas of Bach).
In the realm of popular music electronic keyboards (those, that is, whose tuning cannot be adjusted which includes almost all the cheaper ones for home use) are still tuned to the A=440 Hz standard in the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Electronic tuners for guitar or bass incorporated into guitar or bass amplifiers (such as those incorporated into some of the amplifiers of the Roland CUBE series) also use a fixed A=440 Hz tuning with no possibility for adjustment.
I would like to hear from the musicians amongst us about this.
I had problems years ago with a new clarinet bought in France which only played in tune with the rest of the orchestra by pulling the barrel out quite a
distance. Did the brass players amongst you have similar problems?
Will we ever get a world-wide standard?
With the difference in orchestral pitch between our British Orchestras, which still adhere to "concert pitch" and certain famous European and American orchestras which tune slightly higher, it is clear why reviews sometimes state that "XXX" orchestra has such a brilliant sound. By tuning higher, the sound becomes more brilliant. This does not help singers who are singing today at CG in e.g. Aida and the next time, in the same work, at a different house in a different country, where the pitch is fractionally higher, and the reviews say that "so and so" sounded very tight at the top of his/her voice.
I quote from Wikipedia to give non-musicians an idea of "Concert Pitch", as we know it in Britain.
A = 440 Hz is the only official standard and is widely used around the world. Many orchestras in the United Kingdom adhere to this standard as concert pitch. In the United States some orchestras use A = 440 Hz, while others, such as New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, use A = 442 Hz. The latter is also often used as tuning frequency in Europe, especially in Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway and Switzerland. Nearly all modern symphony orchestras in Germany and Austria and many in other countries in continental Europe (such as Russia, Sweden and Spain) tune to A = 443 Hz.
In practice the orchestras tune to a note given out by the oboe, and many oboists use an electronic tuning device. When playing with fixed-pitch instruments such as the piano, the orchestra will generally tune to them—a piano will normally have been tuned to the orchestra's normal pitch. Overall, it is thought that the general trend since the middle of the 20th century has been for standard pitch to rise, though it has been rising far more slowly than it has in the past. Some orchestras like the Berliner Philharmoniker now use a slightly lower pitch (443 Hz) than their highest previous standard (445 Hz).
Many modern ensembles which specialize in the performance of Baroque music have agreed on a standard of A = 415 Hz. An exact equal-tempered semitone lower than A = 440 would be 440/21/12 = 415.3047 Hz; this is rounded to the nearest integer. In principle this allows for playing along with modern fixed-pitch instruments if their parts are transposed down a semitone. It is, however, common performance practice, especially in the German Baroque idiom, to tune certain works to Chorton, approximately a semitone higher than A-440 (460–470 Hz) (e.g., Pre-Leipzig period cantatas of Bach).
In the realm of popular music electronic keyboards (those, that is, whose tuning cannot be adjusted which includes almost all the cheaper ones for home use) are still tuned to the A=440 Hz standard in the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Electronic tuners for guitar or bass incorporated into guitar or bass amplifiers (such as those incorporated into some of the amplifiers of the Roland CUBE series) also use a fixed A=440 Hz tuning with no possibility for adjustment.
I would like to hear from the musicians amongst us about this.
I had problems years ago with a new clarinet bought in France which only played in tune with the rest of the orchestra by pulling the barrel out quite a
distance. Did the brass players amongst you have similar problems?
Will we ever get a world-wide standard?
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