Expert: David Froom - 6/28/2006

Question
Why do many string orchestras (Collegium Aureum, etc.) tune their instruments down one half-step for performance?  

Answer
There is a lot of dispute about what one should use as a reference pitch (A=440 hz is one generally accepted standard).  But we do know that early music was inconsistent, earlier ideas about standardization had a lower pitch, and that instrumental construction of some earlier instruments (to the extent people can tell) may seem to indicate a lower pitch was expected.

Here is a website about tunings.  The last paragraph deals with some of the issues about reference pitch and history.

http://home.earthlink.net/~douglaspage/id86.html

David Froom