550 Remarks on Earl StanJiopes rnuftcallVork. [Nov. 1, 



fpcak of tlie Wolf in the fingular number, 

 uiiclti'takes to flicw that there arc 5 

 Wolves, as if it were a nezc difcoverv. 

 But furely the 4 bud or untuncublc thirds 

 upon common keyed inftruniciits, muft al- 

 ways have been obvious to e\ cry tuner, al- 

 though not ufually termed AVolves, which 

 term has been pre-eminently applied to 

 the choid A Jiut,.C E jhit, not merely 

 on account of the extitme Iharp third 

 tlicrcin {\Jiat, C.) but fn.in that and 

 the equally extreme (harp fifth (A Jlut, 

 E JIfii) combined with it, makinsf, as 

 timed in many organs 2 hardli/ iolcrahle 

 intvrvnix inonc clun-d. Comjiared thcre- 

 Ibre with this, the other 4 ^\ olves have 

 perhaps not been found fo very otfenfive 

 to the ear, as to be itign)atized with fo 

 reproachful a term. 



'Ihis fmsile bad oth beinc; houever in a 

 great nieafure corrected, by tuning the 

 other fifths, each a little tialter than per- 

 fciH, my next oblervation will be upon 

 the temperament of the 4 thirds, termed 

 by his Lordlhip, in i)a;^c o, the C. G. D 

 and A. Wolves. 



Ill pasre IC, his Lordfliip mentions 3 

 ■ways of dividing the octave, viz. Firll 

 into 'i perfert an<l one extremely Ihnrp 

 third ; J^econdly, into one perfect and 2 

 tliirds equally (harper than )icrfef;t; and 

 Thirdly, uito 3 equal (or equally lliarpen- 

 edj thirds ; as if thefe were the onhf ways 

 the ottavc could be divided, and tliat 

 therefore all that was to be done v. as to 

 chufe the lead ofienlive of the three. 



ISow, the oetave really confiltlng of 3 

 perfect thirds and the diefis (or differ- 

 eiice bet\Neen the major and minor i'e- 

 mitone) — by lise fjrit of the above ways of 

 di\i(iiug it, the whole of the dielis is 

 thrown into one of the thirds. By the 

 Sd way, it is divided bet>veen 2 of tliem, 

 «ind by the lid it is equally divided be- 

 tween all three. 



But there is certainly a 4th way in 

 which the octave may be tuned, namely, 

 by dividing the diehs into 4 parts, ami 

 increafnig 2 of the tliirds ciich by one of 

 tliofe}aits, and throwing the remainiiig 

 Jialf diefis into the other third, wliioii 

 nearly approaches to the mode of tuning 

 that has Itood the tell of numy years e\- 

 jierience ; and as to the molt extended 

 third in it, it only cqiials the bi-eijnul third 

 of his J^ordihip, of which therefore tiiere 

 is but one iuitead of two, in the ertave. 

 And I cannot myfelf ijut prefer this m^- 

 tl.'.'d to citlier of the others ; for the ear, 

 luniiig always been ukd to iharpeiicd 

 thirds; ran well bear nn extenfion of 

 them to the 4th fait of tjieriielis iij two 

 »)t iliciii in each Octave, aiid tlie remain- 



ing third is as much ameliorated as it caii 

 be without fpoiling the other two, and 

 Tiiuft therefore be iitbmitted to. It is in- 

 deed (as a bi-equal third) allowed by Lord 

 Stanhope to bo harmonious. Were it 

 generally fo allowed, tlicre would feem 

 to be no reafon fr)r rcjerting the tri-equal, 

 as more nearly approaching to the per- 

 fert third; or for dividing the oCtave into 

 3 equal thirds, the firand drjideratian 

 upon keyed iufiruments. 



His Lordlhip has however another ob- 

 jection to this iaft method of tuning, from 

 »its making all the keys alike, and pre- 

 venting that eftential rariely of ihurader 

 mentioned in page 1<) of his Treatife. 



Were intleed this variety of charaftcr 

 occafioned by any arrangement of nature, 

 as is the cafe with the mrijor and minor 

 tone, which makes the ditFerence of a 

 connna between ionic intervals and others 

 of the fame kind, in the natural fcale, 

 thefe indeed (could the real notes be al- 

 ways performed in ftrict tunc, according 

 to the elements, upon all inflruments) wc 

 might attain not only variety of charaftec, 

 but perfect harmony. But the '5 

 Wolves having no natural foundation, be- 

 ing unknown in muiic for the human 

 voice, violin, violoncello, ikt. and merely 

 occalioned by the impcrfettion of inftru- 

 ments, and want of keys thereon (there 

 being but 12 keys to exprefs 31 different 

 founds that wny be required within the 

 odavc) I muft confefs, I cannot myfelf 

 perceive any ad^■antagc arifmg from them ; 

 although a ditVerence of character in keys 

 being thus_/(>rcerfu[jon us, we (making as 

 it were a rirtue of necfUltif) are ufed to 

 turn it to what ad^vantage we can, conli- 

 dering fome of the more imperfect keys as 

 better adapied to exprefs plaintive inufic. 

 In rocul mufic (as before obferved) to 

 which all kinds of inftrumeiital are reck- 

 oned fubordinate, no fuch dillinction of 

 character is known ; for v.cre any 8 or 4 

 of our moft excellent lingers to' begin a 

 glee of any length in E Jlat unaccom- 

 pnnied by any inltrunient, it is probable 

 (tiom the naturtd tendency of voices to 

 link) that they would end in the key of 

 D.; or were they to begin in V. natural, 

 would end in i'.JI'tt, and that without the 

 lealt .degree of alteration in the temper- 

 ament. 



To conclude: as the proper difperiion 

 of the dieiis amongil the 3 thirds within 

 ti;e otiave is the grand object in tuning 

 keyed inftrumcnts, I ihall, in order to 

 bring iri the eye to the alf;llance of the 

 imagination, aiid avoid haviu>r recourfe 

 to abjtrule calculation, exhibit the whole 

 fvllcm ill iiniplc nuuiLero. 



T» 



