> On Dec 12, 2015, at 9:21 AM, Edward Martin <edvihuel...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I am wondering, has anybody on the list read some of the arguments > about changing the modern pitch standard as a + 432?
A major push for 432 came from none other than convicted mail fraud conspirator and 8-time fringe presidential candidate Lyndon Larouche, who defined “weird” in American politics until Donald Trump redefined it. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on Larouche; I can’t vouch for its accuracy in all things: > 1989: Musical interests and Verdi tuning initiative: > > LaRouche and his wife have an interest in classical music up to the period of > Brahms. A motto of LaRouche's European Workers' Party, is "Think like > Beethoven"; movement offices typically include a piano and posters of German > composers, and members are known for their choral singing at protest events > and for using satirical lyrics tailored to their targets.[152] LaRouche > abhors popular music; he said in 1980, "Rock was not an accidental thing. > This was done by people who set out in a deliberate way to subvert the United > States. It was done by British intelligence," and wrote that the Beatles were > "a product shaped according to British Psychological Warfare Division > specifications."[153] LaRouche movement members have protested at > performances of Richard Wagner's operas, denouncing Wagner as an anti-Semite > who found favor with the Nazis, and called a conductor "satanic" because he > played contemporary music.[154] > > In 1989 LaRouche advocated that classical orchestras should use a concert > pitch based on A above middle C (A4) tuned to 432 Hz, which the Schiller > Institute called the "Verdi pitch," a pitch that Verdi had suggested as > optimal, though he also composed and conducted in other pitches such as the > French official diapason normal of 435 Hz, including his Requiem in 1874.[155] > > The Schiller Institute initiative attracted support from more than 300 opera > stars, including Joan Sutherland, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, who > according to Opera Fanatic may or may not have been aware of LaRouche's > politics. A spokesman for Domingo said Domingo had simply signed a > questionnaire, had not been aware of its origins, and would not agree with > LaRouche's politics. Renata Tebaldi and Piero Cappuccilli, who were running > for the European Parliament on LaRouche's "Patriots for Italy" platform, > attended Schiller Institute conferences as featured speakers. The discussions > led to debates in the Italian parliament about reinstating Verdi's > legislation. LaRouche gave an interview to National Public Radio on the > initiative from prison. The initiative was opposed by the editor of Opera > Fanatic, Stefan Zucker, who objected to the establishment of a "pitch > police," and argued that LaRouche was using the issue to gain > credibility.[156] Here’s a 1989 story about it from the Washington Post, which goes into some of the arguments: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/05/27/lyndon-larouches-pitch-battle/756e0713-65eb-4059-90b2-037fd2f1f6e1/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
