The Acceptance of Equal Temperament in European Music Theory

Indianapolis, IN

The Scientific Revolution changed the face of science in the early years of the musical Baroque period. With this change in science came innovation in European music theory that dealt with temperament and grew into what we now accept as an accurate temperament for tuning. Andreas Werckmeister, a German music theorist near the end of the Baroque period, outlined this development in his writings and in his theories. Werckmeister originally agreed with the Keplerian notion of the harmony of the universe mystically interpreting temperament, but by the end of his life, Werckmeister had developed new opinions to agree with the validity of equal temperament. Throughout much of music history, music was understood as a science and math before it was viewed as an art in addition to tying music into religion. As the Scientific Revolution spread throughout Europe, the Christian faith was changed with new scientific discoveries. As Lutheran theologians drew parallels between music theory, science and religion equal temperament became widely accepted among German music theorists, and looking to the cosmos became a thing of the past. George Buelow argues that musicologists have overlooked German music theory of the sixteenth and seventeenth century leading us to uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding the time of when equal temperament was accepted as the norm in music theory. I believe that studying the work of Werckmeister, leads one to see how the Scientific Revolution lead to the end of the cosmic theory reign and into what we now fully accept as equal temperament.