Posted by Kenneth Sloan on August 31, 2002 at 23:17:25:
In Reply to: conductor foibles - tuning posted by Kenneth Sloan on August 28, 2002 at 10:03:53:
And the answer is...
I had a chat with a couple of folks who spend time in front of bands (and who also know the conductor in question). The concensus was that tuning to A=435 is common practice in bands where the clarinetists are less than stellar (something about weak embouchures, which I don't understand). This is combined with the idea that the band will tend to drift sharp - and those same clarinets will have no where to go.
They weren't at all surprised that he was tuning to A=435.