French baroque pitch

1. What is Baroque pitch?
2. Why is Baroque tuning 415?
3. What is the frequency of Baroque music?
4. Is Baroque pitch higher or lower?

What is Baroque pitch?

According to various sources (including Wikipedia, www.baroque.org, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, et cetera) A4=415Hz was the pitch “standard” used for Baroque music during it's era, roughly a semitone lower than the modern standard concert pitch of A4=440Hz (440Hz -100 cents = 415.3046975799438Hz).

Why is Baroque tuning 415?

Since period-instrument makers and musicians needed a pitch standard on which to settle, most period-instrument ensembles, Philharmonia included, use A=415 Hz as their pitch standard for Baroque music, since it's almost exactly a half-step lower than concert pitch.

What is the frequency of Baroque music?

Many modern ensembles which specialize in the performance of Baroque music have agreed on a standard of A = 415 Hz. An exact equal-tempered semitone lower than 440 Hz would be 415.30 Hz; this is rounded to the nearest integer.

Is Baroque pitch higher or lower?

In the Baroque Era, pitch levels as high as A-465 (17th century Venice) and as low as A-392 (18th century France) are known to have existed. A few generalizations can be made: pitch was high in North Germany and lower in South Germany. pitch was low in Rome but high in Venice.