A MATHEMATICAL APPROACH RECONSTRUCTING J. S.

BACH'S KEYBOARD TEMPERAMENT

Author(s): Herbert Anton Kellner
Source: Bach, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring - Summer 1999), pp. 1-9
Published by: Riemenschneider Bach Institute
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 A MATHEMATICAL APPROACH
RECONSTRUCTING
J. S. BACH'S KEYBOARD TEMPERAMENT

Herbert
AntonKellner

EDITOR'SNOTE:Thisarticle first
appeared inBACHX/4(1979): 2-22and
wasdedicated to thecomposer Bernard SchuléofGenevaon theoccasionof
his70thbirthday, July22, 1979.(SchulédiedNovember 1, 1996.)Werepub-
lishithereas a necessary to thefollowing
introduction article.
Readersmay
alsowishtoconsult Kellner,"J.S. Bach'sWell-TemperedUnequal Systemfor
^ TheTracker , Journal the Historical 40/3
Organs, of Organ Society (1996):
21-27.

Introduction

Das wohltemperirte Clavier[s/'c]was thetitlethatJohannSebas-

tianBach gave to thefirstpartof his collectionof preludesand fugues
through all keys,thefaircopybeingdated 1722. The meaningof this
title,i.e., the musicaltemperament implied,has ever since remained
enigmatic.Frequently, "well-tempered" has been interpretedto mean
equal temperament, forthis,andevenless,a
butthereis nojustification
proof But as earlyas 1876,morethanone hundredyearsago, Bosan-
quet1realizedthatBach's tuningwas unequal.Morerecently, itwas to
thegreatcreditof HerbertKelletat2thathe stressedagainthatBach's
tuningcouldnothaveconformed to thatofequal temperament.

The usual objectionthatonlyequal temperament wouldadmitall

tonalities,
twenty-four is whollyunfounded and wrong.In fact,various
unequalsystemsdo permitthe usage of all keyswithoutrestrictions,
and genuinecharacteristicsof tonalitycome intoplay. Whereasthere
can be obviouslyjust one systemof equal temperament, an infinite
1R.H.M.Bosanquet, Intervals
onMusical
Treatise
AnElementary andTemperament.
p.29.
1876),
(London,
Herbert Zurmusikalischen
Kelletat, Temperatur, beiJohann
insbesondere Sebastian
Kassel1960;2Merseburger,
Bach('Oncken 1979).

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2 BACH

varietyof unequaltemperaments can be drawnup. Amongtheseis J.S.

Bach's tuning, which(itwillbe shownbelow)is as well-
a temperament
definedas itis well-tempered.

Pure Intervalsand TheirIncommensurability

By meansofthemonochord itis foundthatthesimplegeometrical

ratiosof string-lengths
V2,2/3,3/4,
4/5,5/6,5/8,and 3/5correspond succes-
sivelyto thefollowingnotionsofmusicalintervals: octave,fifth,fourth,
major and minor minor
thirds, and major sixths.The reciprocals the
are
oftheseintervals,
relativefrequencies e.g.,2/'for the octave,3/2forthe
5
fifth,U forthemajor,and6/5fortheminorthird.In general,thesepure
intervalscannotbe composedfromeach other:twelvefifths will not
yieldexactly seven *
octaves,(3/2)12 27. The ratio thusoccurring is
calledthe"pythagorean" or"diatonic"commaP:

27= 312/219
P = (3/2)12/ = 531441/524288.

In regardto therelations
betweentheotherintervals, one findsthat:
(1) thepuremajor third =
(T 5/4) is too small forthreeof itskindto
constitutetheperfectoctave:(5/4)3< 2; (2) it is equallyobviousthat
fourminorthirdsexceedtheoctave:(6/5)4 > 2; and theminorthirdis
thustoo large,as measuredbytheoctave.

Turningnowto therelationbetweenthirdand fifth,thesecondoc-

tave below fourperfectfifths
is seen to rendera majorthirdslightly
> 5/4.Theirratiois called the
largerthanthe pure interval:(3/2)4/4
or
"syntonic" "didymic" comma S:

S = (3/2)4/4.(5/4)
= 81/(5x16)
= 81/80.

HarmonicOvertonesand Beats

Anypluckedharpsichord stringwill sound,in additionto thefun-

damentalnote,numerous harmonicpartíais,havingtwice,threetimes,
etc.,thefrequency of thefundamental. These relativefrequencies, in-
cludingthefundamental, will,therefore,be: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. If a second
string,of the upperfifth,is beingplucked,its sequenceof harmonics
will consistof theintegermultiplesof 3/2,producing 3/2,3, 9/2,6, etc.
One recognizesherethatfortheinterval of thefifth, Q = 3/2, thethird

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 BACH' S KEYBOARD TEMPERAMENT 3

partialof thebasic notecoincideswiththesecondpartialof thefifth's

upperconstituent:
3 X 1 = 2 XQ, or,2Q - 3 x 1 = 0.

note:ThusifA(440)toE(660) is thefifth
[Editor's inquestion,440
- 880- 1320arethefrequencies 660-
forthebasicnote'spartíais;
1320thefrequencies
forfirst
andsecondpartíaisofthefifth.]

Alongtheselines,letus nowtakeup theinterval ofthemajorthird,

thetwocomponents ofwhichhavetherelativefrequencies of 1 andT =
5/4.In thiscase, the fifthpartialof the lowernotecoincideswiththe
fourth harmonicof theupperone: 5 x 1 = 4 x (5/4)or 4T - 5 = 0. As
soon as suchintervals are notexactlypure,butslightly outof tune,the
relevantupperpartíaiswillno longercoincide;instead,theirsmalldif-
ferencesin frequency willcause beats.3Let us writeQd andTdforsome
tempered fifthand third respectively;thenthe followingexpressions
pertainingto theirbeat-ratescan be formed:

S(Qd) = 2*Qd-3*0
S(Td) = 4*Td-5*0

The Baroque Triasharmonicaand the Unitas

In theBaroqueperiod,thetriadwas regardedas a musicalsymbol

oftheTrinity (see KarlDahlhaus's4andRolfDammann's5 studies).The
major triad the
comprises major third and thefifthto a basic tone,hav-
ingthe ratios1 : : or
5/4 3/2, in integers,4:5:6. This is closerto the
unitasthantheratioof theothertriad.The majortriadwas, therefore,
designatedas triasharmonicaperfecta.To theminormodebelongthe
ratios1 : 6/5: 3/2(or 10 : 12 : 15 in integers).Beingobviouslyfarther
away fromtheunity,it was, therefore, consideredas triasharmonica
imperfecta. Such considerationscan be foundin Werckmeister's trea-
tises.ButevenJohannSebastianBach's "Instructions on FiguredBass"
(thetitle-pageby JohannPeterKellner)states:"The TriasHarmonica
is a mutualconnectionbetweenThirdand Fifthset to a fundamental

1HerbertAnton "'DasSchweb,'eineneueMasseinheit
fürverstimmte
Inter-
Kellner,
valle."
DasMusikinstrument,
Heft
5, 1976.
4CarlDahlhaus,
"DerDreiklang Musik
alsSymbol," undKirche
,Jg.25,Heft
5,1955,p.
251.
5RolfDammann, imdeutschen
DerMusikbegriff Barock
(Köln:A.VolkVerlag,
1967).
Note:
Editors Thisbookhassince
beenrepublished Laaber
byLaaber: 1995.
Verlag,

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4 BACH

notewhichcan be doneinall tonalities,

andbothinmajorandminor...
and is otherwisecalledRadixHarmonica, becauseall Harmony
derives
therefrom."(see Spitta6).

But how could all thislead to thereconstituting of Bach's well-

tempered(notequal-tempered) tuning? What is to be found is a com-
for the
promise tempering pure intervals.Let us recallthatthe perfect
fifthwas too largewithrespectto the octave,and too large,as well,
withrespectto thepuremajorthird, thedifferences beingquantified by
the Pythagorean commaP and the syntoniccomma S, respectively.
Formulating now the otherway roundforthe majorthird,it will be
foundto be too smallwithrespectto thefifth and too small,as well,
withrespectto theoctave.Hence,in a well-tempered triad,thethirdis
to be sharpenedandthefifth flattened.As theperfection is symbolized
by the unitasand restsin theratio1 : 1, we the
stipulate beatsof this
fifthQw to occurat the same rateas thebeats of the well-tempered
thirdTw:

S (Qw)= - S (Tw),or
2Qw- 3 = - (4TW- 5)

This establishesone relationbetweenthe well-tempered fifthQw

and the thirdTw. In orderto determine both, a second equationis
needed.The mostnaturalcondition willputthewell-tempered thirdTw
two octavesbelow fourwell-tempered fifths: =
Qw4/4 Tw. Therefrom
followsa relationforthe well-tempered fifthQw, which I call the
"Bach-equation":

2Qw- 3 = - 4(Qw"/4- 5)
+
Qw4 2QW -8 = 0 Bach-equation.

It can be resolvedmosteasilywithan electronic

pocketcalculator,
iterating:
Qn+ 1= (8-2Qn)l/4,

starting Q = 1.5, orevenbetter,

fromthepurefifth fromthefifth
Qmof
themean-tone, =
Qm 51/4. Finally,one obtains:

6 Joh.
Seb.Bach.vol.II(Leipzig: andHärtel,
Spitta,
Philipp Breitkopf 1921),p.917.

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 BACH'S KEYBOARD TEMPERAMENT 5

Qw= 1.495953506
Tw= 1.252023247

In thiswell-temperedtriad,1,Tw,Qw,thesharpened majorthirdTw
will beat fromabove at the same rateas the flattenedfifthQw beats
frombelow.The minorthirdin between,beatsaccurately at fourtimes
thatrate,as can be easilyshown.Betweentheperfectfifth Q and Qw
(the well-tempered one) therewill be a small offsetwhichI call the
"Bach-comma," beingdefinedby:

B = Q/Qw

The TripleOriginofWell-tempered
Triads

In the precedingparagraphI have establishedthe well-tempered

symbolintheBaroquesense.However,this
majortriadas a Trinitarian
is nottheonlyapproachpossible;in fact,well-tempered triadscan be
derivedin threeways.Let us, therefore,firstconsidertheminortriad
and stipulatethatthemajorthird- nowtheupperinterval - shouldbeat
at thesamerateas thewell-tempered fifthqwassociatedwiththistriad.
In thiscase theexpressionforthebeatsofthemajorthirdmustbe mul-
tipliedbytheratioqw/tw oftheminorthird,beforethebeat-rates can be
equated:
= - 5).
2qw- 3 - (qw/tw)
x (4qw4/4

This leadsto a further

quarticequation:
=
6qw4- 3qw3- 20 0

from
Thisequationcan be solvediteratively

=
qn+ i ('/6 (20 + 3q„3))"4

fifth
to yieldthevaluesofthewell-tempered andthirdqwandtw,per-
tainingto theminormode:

qw= 1.495865822
tw= 1.251729726

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6 BACH

These valuesshowthatforall practicalpurposesbothsetsof well-

intervals
tempered Qw,Twandqw,twcan be takenas identical.A further
commaemergesas theratiobetweenthepurefifth Q = 1.5 andthewell-
fifth
tempered qw,to be calledß:

ß = Q/qw

It is to be notedthatwithintheminorwell-tempered triadof 1, tw,

qw,the minor thirdbeatsat exactlythree times therateof thefifthqw.
Related to practicalmusical applications,the thirdoriginof well-
temperedintervals is particularly
important: via thewell-temperedtriad
of C majorit leads immediately to the completetuning.In fact,five
well-tempered fifths,
togetherwithseven purefifths, make up seven
octaves.Such relationsholdwithsurprising accuracy Qwas well as
for
forqw:

Qw5(3/2)7=128.0057
= 127.9682
qw5(3/2)7

will thusbe characterized

The entiretuning-system by the well-
triad
tempered and sevenpurefifths, with
together fiveflattened
ones.

Tuningin PracticalApplication
The Well-tempered

Respectingthe Baroque conceptof the unitas, thewell-tempered

- distinguished
triad by its perfection - mustnot occurmorethanjust
once withinthe tuning-system, symbolizing the Tri-Unity. This well-
temperedtriad, most is C
naturally, placed upon major, centerof
the
On
tonality. the whole it is easy to see thatto achievethis,theperfect
fifthsmustbe distributed as follows:six successiveones descendfrom
middlec' towardsf# usingoctavetranspositions wherever required.The
seventhpurefifth is isolatedand ascendsfrome to b. Of thefivewell-
tempered fouridenticalonesbridgethethird,
fifths, c-e,as follows:c-g-
d-a-e.The lasttempered fifth is isolatedandliesbetweenB andffc.

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 BACH' S KEYBOARD TEMPERAMENT 7

Fig.1: Circle
ofFifths:
WOHLTEMPERIRT

Figure1:J.S. Bach'sWell-tempered forOrgans

UnequalSystem
Reprinted
bypermission

The characteristicsof tonalitiesshow a typicalgraduationin the

Baroquefashion.The qualityof majorkeysis determined bythepurity
oftheirmajorthirds;theminorones,bytheirminorthirds. Threemajor
keyshave Pythagorean tonictriads,made up of fourpurefifths. They
are C#,F#,and G#.Therefore, thekeyC#majoris purelyPythagorean,
at thegreatestdistancefromC major,thecenterof tonality. The triads
oftheC#cadence,I, IV, V, are purelyPythagorean. Withinthistuning-
systemthereis nota singlepurethirdand all majorthirdsare sharp-
ened.C majordisplaysthebestthird, Tw,leastsharpenedandclosestto
purity.In fact,thecrucialtriadof C majordetermines everythingelse
withinthistemperament, including HereA
theminorthirds'graduation.
minor,together withE minor,has thebestminorthird, beingleasttem-
pered.The tonicminorthirdsof all otherkeysbeat moreperceptibly.
The figurebelowclearlyshowsall thesefeatures, togetherwiththear-
rangement fromwhichall theseproperties
offifths, originate.

Finally,thequestionas to how thiskeyboardtemperament can be

implemented forthepurposeofperforming musicmustbe discussed.In
this task, anybodywho has masteredmean-toneor the Kirnberger
temperament can easily succeed by applyingthe methodto be de-
scribed,which as themusicaltemperament
is as unconventional itself.7
7 Herbert
Anton "Wiestimme
Kellner, meinCembalo9
ichselbst Das
Schriftenreihe
Erwin 1197621979.
, Heft
Musikinstrument 19(Frankfurt/M: Bochinsky
Verlag, English
"TheTuning
H. A. Kellner,
thereof:
version ofmyHarpsichord," Das
Schriftenreihe
18,1980.Further
, Heft
Musikinstrument relevant includes:
literature Herbert
A.Kellner,

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8 BACH

Firstof all, six perfectfifthsare to be tuneddownwardssucces-

sivelyfrommiddlec', usingoctave-transpositions whereverrequired.
An initially
purefifth thenfollowsfromft(belowmiddlec') downto B.
Thereafter,thisfifth mustbe tempered by pullingup B, suchthatulti-
the
mately third, B - d#,beatsat six timestherateofthewell-tempered
B - ft,thusgenerated.
fifth, The octave,B - b, upwardsfollows,and
one descendsbytheisolatedpurefifth downto e belowmiddlec1.Into
thethird,c' - e, thusproduced,fourequal well-tempered fifths
have
nowto be fittedsimilarly as inthemean-tone system.

But here some auxiliaryrelationscan be veryconveniently ex-

ploited. In thefundamentaltriad of C the
major, c
fifth, - g, beatsat the
same rateas the thirdc - e, and imperceptibly fasterthanthe well-
temperedfifthB - ft,lowerby a semitone.The well-tempered fifth,
d - a, beinga tonehigherthanc - g, beatsveryslightly faster.The fol-
lowingfifth g - ď, beatsat 3/2
timestherateof c - g; i.e., threetimes,
-
whilec g beatstwice.

To conclude,this keyboardtemperament of Bach, reconstituted

fromthespiritoftheBaroqueprinciples of music,can be implemented
easily,solelybyear,and exceedingly accurately.If thecorrectpropor-
tionB - ftto B - d#= 1 : 6 withintheB-majortriadis missed,and the
beat-ratios1:5 or 1:7 wereattainedinstead,an errorofhardlymorethan
0.5 centswouldresultforthewell-tempered thirdc - e. The accuracyof
thefourbridging fifths,
providedthey have been fittedcarefully,willbe
ofthesameorder.

"EineRekonstruktion
derwohltemperierten
Stimmung vonJohann Sebastian
Bach," Das
Musikinstrument
1/1977,pp.34-35(theoriginalGerman versionofthispaper);H. A.
"Surquelques
Kellner, del'accord
aspects bientempéré,"DasMusikinstrument, 9/1978,
p. 1332(theFrenchversion
ofthepresent
paper);H.A.Kellner,"Wiegenau kann man
dieBachstimmung nachdemGehör Das Musikinstrument
legen?, , 1/1978,p.35;H.A.
Kellner,"Das Wohltemperierte,
ungleichstufige
Tonsystem."In Bach-Studien, Fest-
zum70.Geburtstag
schrift vonHelmut Walcha, ed.W.Dehnhard andG.Ritter (Frank-
furt/Main: Presseverband
Evangelischer Hessen undNassau, 1978),pp.75-91;H. A.
Kellner,
"EinführungindiePraxis
derhistorischen
Stimmungen,"InLehrbuch desKla-
vierbaues,R. Junghanns, Das Musikinstrument5
, 1979;F. Janssens,"Onthe
Verlag
RelationsofBeatsinTempered Acustica
Traids," 1978:200-202;
, 40/3, John Barnes,
"Bach'sKeyboardTemperament,"EarlyMusic,
1,April 1979:236.

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 BACH'S KEYBOARD TEMPERAMENT 9

MAJOR
THIRDS

EiC_ £ C Pure

MINORTHIRDS ^

-
^ i -¿Vi
S",-
Quality FIFTHS

J-C.-: -f" H- --C-- - £fB|-

J-L. . L1J-1-C-. . . fj§ L-

WERCKMEISTER
III WELL-TEMPERED KIRhGERGER
III

2: Quality
Figure ofIntervals

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