Concert Pitch

[Spike Vincent]

Right,we all know concert pitch is 440 hz.,yes? I've just been told that concert pitch in mainland Europe is actually 443 hz.Can anyone confirm this? Not that I'm planning on using the Berlin Philharmonic soon,..Just curious.

[markstuk]

From Wikipedia...

The Stuttgard Conference of 1834 recommended C264 (A440) as the standard pitch based on Scheibler's studies with his Tonometer.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-5"][6][/url][/sup] For this reason A440 has been referred to as Stuttgard or Scheibler pitch.
In 1939, an international conference recommended that the A above middle C be tuned to 440 Hz, now known as [i]concert pitch[/i]. As a technical standard this was taken up by the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization"]International Organization for Standardization[/url] in 1955 and reaffirmed by them in 1975 as [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_16"]ISO 16[/url]. The difference between this and the [i]diapason normal[/i] is due to confusion over the temperature at which the French standard should be measured. The initial standard was A = [url="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Tone_439Hz.ogg"]439 Hz[/url] ([url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tone_439Hz.ogg"]info[/url]), but this was superseded by A = 440 Hz after complaints that 439 Hz was difficult to reproduce in a laboratory because 439 is a [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_number"]prime number[/url].[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-6"][7][/url][/sup]
Despite such confusion, A = 440 Hz is the only official standard and is widely used around the world. Many orchestras in the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom"]United Kingdom[/url] adhere to this standard as concert pitch.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-7"][8][/url][/sup] In the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States"]United States[/url] some orchestras use A = 440 Hz, while others, such as [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Philharmonic"]New York Philharmonic[/url] and the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Symphony_Orchestra"]Boston Symphony Orchestra[/url], use A = 442 Hz.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-8"][9][/url][/sup] Nearly all modern symphony orchestras in [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany"]Germany[/url] and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria"]Austria[/url] and many in other countries in [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe"]continental Europe[/url] (such as [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia"]Russia[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden"]Sweden[/url] and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain"]Spain[/url]) play with tune to A = 443 Hz. A = 442 Hz is also often used as tuning frequency in Europe,[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-ARIA-1"][2][/url][/sup] especially in [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark"]Denmark[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France"]France[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary"]Hungary[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy"]Italy[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway"]Norway[/url] and [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland"]Switzerland[/url].[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-9"][10][/url][/sup]
In practice the orchestras tune to a note given out by the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oboe"]oboe[/url], and many oboists use an electronic tuning device. When playing with fixed-pitch instruments such as the piano, the orchestra will generally tune to them—a piano will normally have been tuned to the orchestra's normal pitch. Overall, it is thought that the general trend since the middle of the 20th century has been for standard pitch to rise, though it has been rising far more slowly than it has in the past. Some orchestras like the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Philharmoniker"]Berliner Philharmoniker[/url] now use a slightly lower pitch (443 Hz) than their highest previous standard (445 Hz).[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-10"][11][/url][/sup][sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-ARIA-1"][2][/url][/sup]
Many modern ensembles which specialize in the performance of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_music"]Baroque music[/url] have agreed on a standard of A = 415 Hz.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-ARIA-1"][2][/url][/sup] An exact equal-tempered semitone lower than A = 440 would be 440/2[sup]1/12[/sup] = 415.3047 Hz; this is rounded to the nearest integer. In principle this allows for playing along with modern fixed-pitch instruments if their parts are transposed down a semitone. It is, however, common performance practice, especially in the German Baroque idiom, to tune certain works to Chorton, approximately a semitone higher than A-440 (460–470 Hz) (e.g., Pre-Leipzig period cantatas of Bach).[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music#cite_note-11"][12][/url][/sup]

[Spike Vincent]

Hmmm.So if I bought a german tuner from Thomann,would it be 443 hz.?

[Doddy]

On a lot of electronic tuners you can change the pitch from around A=437-443Hz or thereabouts.
Although it will probably be set to A=440 as standard.

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1332604030' post='1590595']
Hmmm.So if I bought a german tuner from Thomann,would it be 443 hz.?
[/quote]

I don't think so. If you're worried about it though, maybe get one where you can set the reference pitch?

[Spike Vincent]

Not worried,it was a rehersal room conversation that required resolution.