Unequal Temperaments theory, history, and practice. 2nd revised edition.

Claudio di Veroli. 456 pages. http://temper.braybaroque.ie/, 2009.

Reviewed by Pedro Persone.
The Italian Claudio di Veroli (pron. Cloudy-oh Deave-Erroly, as he states in his
resume), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where is regarded a leading
specialist in baroque performance. While playing harpsichord, di Veroli also
worked as harpsichord tuner.
He published his first book entitled Unequal Temperament, in 1978, and
sequentially the Baroque Keyboard Fingerings study, in 1983. After that we
lost his track and it is known he has been working in information systems and
business management consultancy. It was a great surprise to see in an internet
harpsichord list the announcement of the second revised edition of Unequal
Temperament Theory, History, and Practice. This e-book, published in March
2009, with its 456 pages is now available on-line through
http://temper.braybaroque.ie/ , priced at US$ 23.90.
This above mentioned study was divided into three main parts as follows: Part I
Description, Analysis, History (eleven chapters); Part II Tuning and Fretting
Instructions (seven chapters); Part III Complementary Topics (four chapters and
five appendix). Di Verolis book is a relevant complementary source to the
existing bibliography on what temperament does matter. In short, his work is
leveled with the J. Murray Barbous pioneer work (1951), the Owen Jorgensens
Tuning the Historical Temperaments by ear (1977), the H. A. Kellners The
Tuning of my Harpsichord (1980), the Herbert Kelletats Zur Musikalischen
Temperatur (1981), the basic but nice Gerrit Klops booklet Harpsichord
Tuning (1983), the Pierre-Yves Asselins Musique et Temprament (1985)
and, of course, Bruce Hayne's monumental study The Story of A (2002).
Consciously that we are living in a world where Physics does not permit circles
but permits spirals because of the golden section, we have to temperate our
instruments in order to have pure octaves. I mean that if we start tuning perfect
fifths after a given a, when we arrive on the next a of an octave, we do not
have the same a but something far from the first given a. The difference
between the two as is the dust we have to put under the rug. Then, Di Veroli
provides us the recipes on how to distribute our dust according to historical
unequal temperaments. All this are showed full of symbols, ratios, formulae,
explaining about Pythagorean comma, harmonic waste of the fifths, genesis of
meantone temperament (as well as all its variants). The most important
temperaments are explained by di Veroli, including the recent interpretation by
Lehman of the squiggle on the Well-Tempered Clavier I.
In addition, the di Verolis formulae offer important clues such as the way to
manage tuning hammers or how to proceed if we have to change a keyboard

instrument temperament prior to a public performance. Temperaments

explained step by step, such as Pure intonation, Standards, Extended,
Homogeneous, and Attenuated Meantones; Semi, Mersenne-Chaumont, Early
French, Standard French; Schlicks, Werckmeister III, Kellners Bach, Barness
Bach; Vallottis and Vallotti/Youngs, Broadwoods Best, Almost Equal
Temperaments. Fretted clavichords deserves a chapter where the author
explains the changing of temperament, temperament and fretting pattern,
followed by information for plucked fretted instruments. The e-book also offers
information for intonation for woodwind and brass instruments.
After such production, Argentinean can be braggadociouly proud of the
compatriot quite easily because it is their most known and strongest
characteristic to untiringly praise their countrymens deeds. I am very happy to
recommend this book which could be a pleasant reading for both Kenner and
Liebhaber.
Pedro Persone holds a D.M.A. in Historical Performance harpsichord and
fortepiano from Boston University. Granted by FAPESP, he is researching
European music played in Imperial Brazil at post-doctorate level at UNESP
So Paulo, Brazil. His book The earliest piano music: Lodovico Giustinis
(1685-1743) Sonate da cimbalo di piano, e forte detto volgarmente di
martelletti, Firenze, 1732, was published by VDM-Verlag, Saarbrcken, 2008.