In modern times, just before the concert begins, the oboist or keyboard player
usually plays an "A" to which all other musicians tune their instruments.
It's easy to take our modern, standardized concert "A" pitch for granted,
but as you can see from this chart, things were not always so uniform.
(Listings are in ascending order of pitch)
|
Year |
Herz |
Authority |
| 1648 |
A - 403 |
M. Mersenne: spinet |
| 1762 |
408 |
Johann Matheson |
| 1740 |
415 |
G. Silberman: tuning fork |
| 1751 |
423 |
George Frideric Handel: tuning fork |
| 1619 |
424 |
Michael Praetorius: 'church pitch' |
| 1823 |
428 |
Opera Comique, Paris |
| 1880 |
432 |
Italian Congress, Milan |
| 1859 |
435 |
French Government Commission Standard Pitch |
| 1885 |
435 |
Vienna International Conference Standard Pitch |
| 1939 |
440 |
Present Day U.S. Standard Pitch |
| 1834 |
440 |
J.H. Scheibler, Stuttgart |
| 1878 |
447 |
Vienna State Opera |
| 1879 |
452 |
British Army |
| 1874 |
455 |
Old Philharmonic Pitch, London |
| 1859 |
456 |
Viennese 'high pitch' |
| 1880 |
460 |
Old Austrian Military Pitch |
| 1511 |
504 |
A. Schlick 'high pitch' |
| 1636 |
504 |
M. Mersene 'church pitch' |
| 1636 |
563 |
M. Mersenne 'chamber pitch' |
| 1619 |
567 |
M. Praetorius 'church pitch' |
|
NOTE: "Herz" = vibrations per second |
Earliest pitches determined from old organs and tuning forks.
Source: New Groves Dictionary and various public domain sources