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Pitch, is different to temperament. As explained briefly in our previous article, temperament is the system of dividing the octave into semitones. However, Pitch, is the definition of where a particular reference note sits in Hertz (Hz).

The most common reference note is the 'A' above middle C. Currently, by international agreement the official reference is that the A sits at 440Hz. However, in the interests of pursuing endless growth and inflation (just like our economic model!), there are many groups and orchestras that have pushed onwards towards 443Hz.

Pre-Baroque

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In the period before the Baroque (~1700), the reference pitch was just whatever the organ in the church happened to be tuned at. So, this could vary due to the maker and the condition of the instrument. In addition, as the pitch changes with the speed of sound in air, and the speed of the sound changes with the temperature and humidity, the pitch was variable throughout the seasons!

To add to the lack of standardisation, the only way to "tune" an organ was to rework the pipes, like hammering to change the shape or flaring the ends. This had the end result of raising the pitch over time as these changes were permanent, and the pitch could not be brought back down without replacing the entire set of pipes, which was a terribly expensive endeavour.

This sorry state of affairs could lead to extreme examples where the pitch of two different organs in the same city could be as far apart as five semitones!

Baroque

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The tuning fork was invented around 1711. This was a huge development for the practice of music. There was a way to agree on a reference pitch without having to carry a church organ around in your pocket. Despite the invention of this groundbreaking tool, there was the problem that every city would still stick to it's own reference pitch. So, we have historical tuning forks which suggest the reference pitch could be anywhere between 400Hz to 450Hz depending on your location. In addition, we have other resources which could suggest that the pitches could have varied even further afield from 392Hz through to 466Hz!

This was disaster for wind instruments especially, as the instruments were built with a certain reference pitch in mind. Retuning them was a nightmare or outright impossible, as they did not have the complex system of keys that now exist on modern Classical instruments.

However, the Baroque mind was nothing if not adaptive. Bach (and others) solved this problem by having different parts play at different reference pitches, and just writing the parts in different keys to make sure it sounded together!

Inflation

Over the years and centuries, there was a tendency for the reference pitch to rise slowly and steadily upwards. This was due to many factors, the principal reason possibly being the desire of instrumentalists and singers wanting to sound more brilliant and brighter than their colleagues and rivals. There are examples of writings (treatises) from the past of people complaining that the constant rise of the reference pitch was resulting in strained throats (in singers) and an epidemic of snapped strings (in string players). The rise of the symphonic orchestra brought a temporary slowing of the pitch inflation, as there needed to be more consensus in a larger group about the reference.

Modern Era and the Early Music movement

The modern pitch is universally agreed upon to be around 440Hz. Some orchestras are slightly higher, but not disastrously so.

In the Early Music movement there are several "standard" pitches.

1. Standard Baroque (415Hz)
2. Early German (466Hz)
3. Early Italian (440Hz)
4. French Baroque (392Hz)
5. Classical (330Hz)

Keep in mind that these are also modern inventions. The standard historical pitches were introduced as it was impractical for a concert spanning centuries and diverse geographic locations to have a completely different reference pitch for every 10 minute work of music!

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