Tuning and Temperament: A Historical Survey

Some of music theory's complexities become decidedly clearer with the guidance of this classic survey of the problems of tuning and temperament. It traces the pursuit of the perfect scale (tuning) and the compromises necessary for composing in every key (temperament), from Pythagoras and Ptolemy to Bach, Bosanquet, and beyond. Author J. Murray Barbour notes and evaluates the contributions of well- and lesser-known students of this issue. A chapter is devoted to each of the principal theorie...