Xenharmonic music is music that uses a tuning system that is unlike the 12-tone equal temperament scale. It was named by Ivor Darreg, from the Greek Xenos (Greek ξένος) meaning both foreign and hospitable. He stated that it was "intended to include just intonation and such temperaments as the 5-, 7-, and 11-tone, along with the higher-numbered really-microtonal systems as far as one wishes to go."[1]
John Chalmers, author of Divisions of the Tetrachord, wrote, "The converse of this definition is that music which can be performed in 12-tone equal temperament without significant loss of its identity is not truly microtonal."[2] Thus xenharmonic music may be distinguished from twelve-tone equal temperament, as well as use of intonation and equal temperaments, by the use of unfamiliar intervals, harmonies, and timbres.
Theorists other than Chalmers consider xenharmonic and non-xenharmonic to be subjective. Edward Foote, in his program notes for 6 degrees of tonality, refers to the differences in his response to the tunings he uses, such as Kirnberger and DeMorgan, from "shocking," to "too subtle to immediately notice," saying that "[t]emperaments are new territory for 20th-century ears. The first-time listener may find it shocking to hear the harmony change 'color' during modulations or too subtle to immediately notice."[3]
- ^ Darreg, Ivor (May 1974). "Xenharmonic Bulletin No. 2". Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Chalmers, John H. (1993). Divisions of the tetrachord: a prolegomenon to the construction of musical scales, p.1. Frog Peak Music. ISBN 9780945996040.
- ^ Foote, Edward (2001). "Six Degrees Of Tonality The Well Tempered Piano - CD notes". UK piano page.