Hearing out of tune

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Another unrelated observation: Does anyone else always hear the organ as sounding flat when its revealed in all its glory after the Also Spracht introduction? (At least on recordings - I've never heard it 'live'.)

Only in the VPO/Karajan (the one that was used in 2001 - A Space Odyssey). Other recordings I've heard sound OK.

[subcontrabass]

I have a theory about why sopranos tend to go out of tune more than other voices. They usually have the melody line, which often contains cadential points where the 6th of the scale (submediant) falls to the fifth (dominant). For some reason, this seems to be one that many singers overshoot, so that the fall is slightly more than a semitone. The dominant is of course a strong anchor in tonal music, so once a "new" dominant is reached, it becomes standard if enough people follow. The longer the piece, the more times this happens.

It is only a theory, and I'd be interested in reading the views of others.

My experience over many years is consistent with this: semitones up (particularly for sopranos) are smaller than semitones down.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oops! In a major key, the drop from the 6th degree of the major scale to the 5th is a tone, and I meant to write that. A big thank you to the tactful forumites who noticed, but didn't expose my error.

[Dave2002]

Another unrelated observation: Does anyone else always hear the organ as sounding flat when its revealed in all its glory after the Also Spracht introduction? (At least on recordings - I've never heard it 'live'.)

Yes - I do - and I think it often really is flat compared to the orchestra at that point. However, I did hear one recently - not quite sure which - which was to my ears perfectly in tune - somewhat to my surprise.