The Blandford and Wimbourne Telegram. — 1884-10-31 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

PITCH. It may be remembered considerable difficulty was experienced at the recent diocesan festival owing to the non-existence of a universal standard of musical pitch. Writing on the subject, the Rev. W. M. Barnes, of Monkton, says : " Those psrsone who are interested in the advance of the musical art will be glad to learn that there is at length some prospect of a universal standard of ptela being adopted. That English musicians should have quietly submitted for so long a time to a chaotic and exasperating variety of pitch speaks well for their long suffering and their patience. It has, however, inflicted great injury on art, it has delayed the advance of musical education, and restricted the use of the orchestra. As an instance of the inconvenience caused by variety of pitch, in May last the Salisbury Diocesan Choral Association held a festival in Salisbury Cathedral. The singers were 3,000 in number, and a military band was engaged to assist the otgan in the accompaniments. 'I he mud ! selected for the festival included a selection from the Messiah, which was effectively scored for full band and organ, but the organ was at S iciety of Arts pitch and the band at Philharmonic, and on trying the reeds at the former pitch it was found that sooie of them could not reach it, and of the others the registers were all uneven ; net a • cale was true. The reeds had, therefore, to be disc irded, and the ace )mpaniment re-ocored for brass and organ, but in crooking do am the brass it was found that the scales of the basses at least were untrue. I understand a similar thing occurred at a military festival in St. Paul's Cathedral, the services for which were specially writ;en for band and organ, but from the same cause the organ part had to be omitted. If the evil were confined to the employment of reed and brass band and organ together it would be a matter of little importance, for such a combination, effective though it be, can only be used with a very large body of singers; but the existing differences of pitch prevent the employment of an orchestral band with the organ in our cathedrals and churches, and hinder the employment of the orchestra in our secular musical societies. If the trade were aware to what extent they are the losers by the present state of things, they would agree among themselves to remedy it, to say nothing of the wide use which, if the pitch were lowered, would be made of the orchestra in our o sthedrals and churches, of which Professor Monk, at the Cuureh Congress in 1381, said, ' C.,urchea of large area and great height are so peculiarly favourable to the effects of the orchestra that, as an rue ouragement of religious thought and feeling in church, there is probably no musical agency within our control at all comparable to it.' If the pitch were lowered, how extended would be the sale of orchestral iustrumenta in the country. As soon as the young men in our country towns and villages find they con bring their clarionets and wind instruments to the acLool harmonium and be certain that the pitch will accord, so that the harmonies which the Instruments do not supply can be filled up, we shall be able to persuide them to take up the practice of orchestral instruments, and afford themselves much innocent pleasure through the long winter evenings, and delight their friends at the village concerts ; but untl this is possible it can scarcely be wondered at taat uneducated ears should prefer the barbarous and music-murdering harmonies of the German concertina to the naked melody of a reed or br iss instrument. Probably no law would be necessary in England, as in Germany, to effect the change. The real delinquents are the musical advisers to the War Office and the makers of military band instrumento. If the War Office will lower the pitch for military bands, the pitch of most country orchestras, which are greatly dependent on the reeds of military bands, will be lowered instantiv.and the organs. pianos, and harm miuma would follow. Variety of pitch has arisen from the fact that the voices are not able without much strain to sing at Philharmonic pitch ; and the makers of instruments used in vocal accompaniment, having no recognised lower standard, adopt the pitch which appears most suitable to themselves. If a lower standard suited to vocal accompaniment were established, the mak srs of these instruments would find it to their interest to adopt it.