My previous question about equal temperament was answered with a flourish, so here's the follow-up one:
Because math and harmony don't seem to mix very well, piano tuners have to cheat a little bit, pulling down the fifths, nudging the fourths a bit higher, and so forth (no pun intended).
But there's the string section in the orchestra that is not constrained by anything: no frets, no keys. They can be as "just" as they like.
Question: when accompanying the piano (in Chopin's or Grieg's or Mozart's or Tchaikovsky's piano concerto), do they have to "play along," i.e. do they have to abide by the piano's equal temperament lest the whole structure starts bouncing all over the place, way out of tune?
And what about the woodwinds that have fixed holes - are they made to imitate equal temperament?
