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MMD Archives: History of U.S. Standard Pitch, A = 440 Hz http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199804/1998.04.05.05.html

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History of U.S. Standard Pitch, A = 440 Hz

 By Ed Gaida 

I was hesitant about posting this to the MMD, but after carefulconsideration decided to write about the adoption of A-440 as theofficial pitch of the United States. The greatest proponent of A-440was J. C. Deagan, founder of the company that bore his name. As earlyas 1900 he was advocating adoption of a standard pitch, and thatstandard he reasoned should be A-440.

Deagan wrote numerous articles for trade publications of the day. Ihave many of those articles courtesy of June Albright Howard who workedas the recording artist for player rolls at Deagan.

There has always been discussion of the pros and cons of raising apiano from A-435 to A-440 and the resulting increase in strain on thestings, plate and back. Deagan addresses this question. "If pianotuners are afraid of a fifth of a semi-tone higher on pianos from A-435(C-517.3) to A-440 (C523.3), let them consider those old days whenpianos were tuned about a semi-tone higher than A-435. The actualstress of the strings did not give them much trouble." (He notes thatin 1880 in America, the pitch was as high as A-454 to A-460!)

The origins of the "higher German pitch", i.e., A-440, are explained

by Deagan:

  "A-435 was for years, the official pitch of the American Federation  of Musicians, the largest body of organized musicians in the world,  and was also the pitch generally used by pipe organ and piano  builders.

  "But the fact remains that the majority of the best professional  musicians using wind instruments were actually using the old higher  German pitch brought from Russia to Vienna after the Napoleonic wars  (about 1816 to 1820) by the Czar of Russia, Alexander I, who during  the Congress of Vienna, presented to crack Austrian regiment bands  beautiful Russian-made full sets of band instruments in a higher  pitch than heretofore, which made such bands sound more brilliant

  than bands using the older pitch known as "Sauveur's Philosophical  Pitch, C-512" (arrived at by computing the ninth power of 2-29) or  A-430.5.

  "This new higher pitch and other still higher pitches became very  popular afterwards all over Europe, but the French would have none  of it (too high for opera singers), so the French got up a compro-  mise pitch, A-435. This new French pitch, called "Diapason Normal",  was between A-440 and A-430.5 This latter pitch (the official pitch  of Europe for over one hundred years) was the old pitch of Bach,  Mozart and Beethoven (before 1816)."

Deagan's contention was that when the French set the standard pitchat A-435, they did so at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius (59

degrees Fahrenheit) and that was too low for steam heated concerthalls. Theodore Thomas as far back as 1883, ordered his concert hallsto be kept at a temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit, or as near tothat as possible. Deagan continues: "Wind instruments tuned to A-435

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MMD Archives: History of U.S. Standard Pitch, A = 440 Hz http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199804/1998.04.05.05.html

2 of 2 09/01/04 01:40

at 59 degrees Fahrenheit will raise in pitch to A-440 at 72 degreesFahrenheit."

The United States officially adopted A-440 as standard pitch in 1920,but Deagan was still fighting the battle in 1930 and later, asevidenced from the articles he wrote for the "The Bandmaster".

In the case of automatic instruments, if the fixed pitch instruments

(xylophone, orchestra bells) are A-435, then there is no choice. Maybethe question should be, "Is the instrument in tune with _itself_?"

Ed Gaida

(Message sent Sun 5 Apr 1998, 20:00:54 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

Key Words in Subject:  440, History, Hz, Pitch, Standard, U.S

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