Temperament and tuning of early 19th century Hispanic keyboard instruments: A study of the monochord integrated into a fortepiano made by Francisco Fernández (1828)

Abstract

The recovery of previously used tuning systems of musical instruments, led by the interpreters of historical repertoires, has widened our knowledge and our aesthetic perception of the sounds, harmonies, and repertoires of works from those times. For only a very few instruments have we been able to determine the original tones, whereas the mechanisms designed to tune keyboard instruments are of a remarkable reliability. Among the latter is the monochord integrated into the fortepiano made by Francisco Fernández in 1828. In this article, we evaluate the measurements, both physical and acoustic, of the tones of this device, and offer comparisons. Based on the conclusions of this analysis, we define a tuning system closely linked to another, contemporary one but with unique features that result in a number of sonorities perfectly adapted to the performance and aesthetics of the musical repertoires of Romanticism. Moreover, this system, which was probably used until the early 20th century, offers us a new harmonic coloring, one especially suited to the Iberian repertoire of the same time.

Keywords: Francisco Fernández (1766–1852) · Barcelona Music Museum · fortepiano · monochord · tuning · musical temperament · Romanticism