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Despite the Council of Europe's good intentions, standardization of pitch may be a Utopian dream. For one thing, many orchestras have raised or lowered their A's to conform to the acoustic demands of the halls they play in. For another, some conductors would simply refuse to retune to a standard that did not suit their taste. Says Jacques Allusson of France's Ministry of Culture: "We can't fine conductors for not keeping to pitch. It would be amusing to try though."
Then there is the formidable economic problem: brass and woodwinds are built to conform to varying pitch standards, which means that thousands of existing musical instruments would have to be scrapped. Says Horn Soloist Barry Tuckwell: "Who's going to get a clarinet player to buy a new one? Who'll compensate him? I wish the council luck, but it's like asking Detroit to abandon the internal combustion engine."