This is the fourth post in a series that discusses the general principles important in the world of Early Music.
4. The use of appropriate pitch
Compare the following three performances of the Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs, from the Molière/Lully comédie-ballet Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, first performed in 1670. The piece is notated in G minor.
In each of these recordings, the music is being played in the same key, but at a different pitch. In the first recording the instruments are tuned to the low pitch of A-392, in the second at the slightly higher A-415 and in the third just below A-440. Which one is historically correct? Does it even matter?
