Eight Artist-Level Violinists Performing Unaccompanied Bach: Are There Consistent Tuning Patterns?

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the intonation performances of highly regarded concert violinists in an unaccompanied context. I chose eight solo artists representing different generations of performers (Heifetz, Grumiaux, Milstein, Perlman, Hahn, Midori, Barton Pine, and Shaham). Pitch performances were analyzed in commercial recordings spanning 65 years of two unaccompanied pieces composed by Bach, one in d minor and one in E major. I investigated whether similarities in intonation tendencies would occur among these respected artists, and whether the displayed patterns would approximate the theoretical tuning systems that have been studied previously: Just, Pythagorean, or equal temperament. The artists appear to have their own individual tendencies, and none of them conformed consistently to any theoretical tuning system. Although there are average tendencies on isolated intervals that approximate one tuning or the other, multiple repetitions show a wide range both between and within individual performers. However, performances of the thirds and sixths in the major key and less so in the minor key (intervals that illustrate the largest differences in tuning between systems) did display a propensity toward Pythagorean tuning of these scale degrees. Deviations away from all three tuning systems are common, and these artists never play exactly in one tuning or another.