Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 January 18

= January 18 =

Mary Poppins
Can anyone tell me what age group were the Mary Poppins books (not the movie or the stage play) intended for? Were they written for the 8-to-10 group or the 10-to-12 group? Thanks in advance! 67.169.83.209 (talk) 20:11, 18 January 2014 (UTC)


 * I don't believe they were intended for any child age group. Like Maurice Sendak, Travers wrote about children, but not for children (I'm not saying they're not suitable for children to read; just that there are messages that only the adult mind would be able to grasp).  They were usually marketed as children's books, but that was contrary to the author's idea.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  20:46, 18 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes. I've only seen the movie, but it seems to me that was intended for a wide range of ages.  There are things for kids, certainly, like the magical carousel ride, but also some things only adults are likely to understand, like the run on the bank, the women's suffrage movement, and the anti-colonial message of the crazy old man firing his cannon at imagined Hottentots.  Now, assuming those themes were in the book, as well, then it would be for all ages, too. StuRat (talk) 22:52, 18 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks! So, 8-to-adult and everything in between, right? 67.169.83.209 (talk) 06:44, 19 January 2014 (UTC)


 * The Guardian included it in their Classic children's library: 8-11, but many other internet sources agree on "Age Range: 8 and up" . Alansplodge (talk) 09:49, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

When an orchestra plays Vivaldi, are the instruments tuned to a non-equal-ratio scale?
My understanding of music theory is both shaky and from nearly 30 years ago, but as far as I recall, equal-ratio scales are quite modern. When playing compositions from before that era, do the orchestra matches the scales, historically corrected? Are we hearing the 4 seasons as Vivaldi intended, or a modernized version? Zarnivop (talk) 21:52, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
 * As far as I know, just about all classical orchestral music is recorded in Twelve tone equal temperament. Specialized recordings exist in other temperaments, e.g. "Six degrees of Tonality", recorded by pianist Enid Katahn (available on Spotify). If anyone's aware of other recordings in non-equal temperaments, I too would be interested in hearing about it. NorwegianBluetalk 22:24, 18 January 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.189.65.217 (talk)


 * Johann Sebastian Bach composed The Well-Tempered Clavier around this time. Since then, the only major change has been to adopt the Concert pitch. My gut feeling is that Vivald would approve of  our modern rendition of his compositions.--Aspro (talk) 23:56, 22 January 2014 (UTC)