concert pitchn.
/ˈkɒnsət pɪtʃ/, U.S. /ˈkɑnsərt ˌpɪtʃ/ 1.
a. Music. Any of various standards of pitch suitable for concert performance, (now) spec. an internationally agreed standard for the tuning of musical instruments, in which the note A above middle C has a frequency of 440 Hz.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [noun] > concert pitch
concert pitch1735
orchestra pitch1852
solo pitch1876
1735 M. Clare Motion of Fluids 286 Father Mersennius says, he found by certain Experiments, that a String, extended till it was of a Concert Pitch..made no less than 104 Vibrations in a Second of Time.
1767 J. Priestley Hist. & Present State Electr. viii. 717 A jar containing half a square foot of coated glass sounded F sharp, concert pitch.
1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia Concert pitch, implies that..tone..to which all musical instruments are adjusted, before they can be used in concert.
1866 H. B. Stowe Little Foxes 115 If a piano is tuned to exact concert pitch, the majority of voices must fall below it.
1939 Times 12 May 14/1 To stabilize concert pitch, representatives of seven nations, including Germany and Italy, met at Broadcasting House yesterday.
1998 Strad Sept. 903/3 Should string manufacturers indicate on all their products exactly what tension is required to bring them to concert pitch?
b. figurative. An optimum state or level; esp. a state of readiness or efficiency.
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the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > [noun] > state of being prepared or ready
graithc1330
readinessc1350
in promptc1425
areadinessa1500
alreadiness1534
apointc1540
furniture1560
expedition1579
prestness1582
preparedness1590
trim1628
addressedness1633
concert pitch1742
engrenage1918
1742 E. Montagu Let. 4 Oct. (1809) II. 199 I am persuaded that much less pains, than what we employ, without scruple, upon an harpsichord, would keep both the husband and wife in, what we call, concert pitch.
1755 Answer to 2nd Let. to People 9 It would be straining the Letter and Intention of the Law a Note or two above Concert-pitch.
1817 Mrs. Piozzi Let. 4 Jan. in Autobiogr. (1861) II. 188 I want something to string my spirits up to concert pitch.
1888 J. W. Burgon Lives Twelve Good Men II. v. 47 Screwing up to ‘concert pitch’..men whose traditions were lax and unsatisfactory.
1936 Aircraft Engin. Oct. 273/3 Some more work is necessary..to bring it to ‘concert pitch’.
1961 N. Coward Diary 17 Mar. (2000) 466 My whole month in New York finished at concert pitch.
1998 Sunday Tel. 25 Jan. (Sport section) 6/3 England's batsmen, as a unit, are not at concert pitch in their timing, placement and renewal of concentration after each break.
2. Music. The pitch sounded by non-transposing instruments.
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1772 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 563/1 The two Diapasons..are the only stops..that are concert pitch; all the other stops being above concert pitch, and their pipes small.
1884 Musical Herald Apr. 83/1 The C clarinet is, of course, in concert pitch; but, should a piece of music be in more than one or two flats, the B-flat clarinet is substituted.
1889 Brit. Bandsman Jan. 75/2 The C of the piccolo is concert-pitch D♭.
1920 M. L. Lake Amer. Band Arranger v. i. 34 Trombones and Baritone in Treble Clef are written one tone above Concert pitch.
1966 Crescendo Aug. 21/1 I enjoy playing the flute, because, although the embouchure is difficult, it's in concert pitch.
2004 T. E. Rudolph Teaching Music with Technol. (ed. 2) vii. 173 Parts can be entered in concert pitch and then automatically transposed and printed out for instruments in other keys.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1735