I can't edit my comment above but I want to clarify: I don't mean to say that string players always play in 12-TET.
If you're playing a C in C major and I'm playing a G, it may sound best if my G is close to a perfect fifth from your C in just intonation. This is why string sections often sound so sickly sweet, like A Capella.
On the other hand, if you are playing a C and a G on the piano, and I'm also playing a G, then it will sound best if I play the same G as you in 12-TET. If I were to play the "correct" G against your "wrong" G, it would sound out of tune.
Context is everything.
As you may notice, G doesn't have a sharp or a flat in C major! If string players relied upon accidentals to tell them how to tune a particular note, they would be out of luck seven twelfths of the time.
That process of adjustment: called intonation, happens after resolving which pitch class I want to play. It's not something that an arranger can control through the use of enharmonic spelling, but it doesn't stop them from trying!
If you're playing a C in C major and I'm playing a G, it may sound best if my G is close to a perfect fifth from your C in just intonation. This is why string sections often sound so sickly sweet, like A Capella.
On the other hand, if you are playing a C and a G on the piano, and I'm also playing a G, then it will sound best if I play the same G as you in 12-TET. If I were to play the "correct" G against your "wrong" G, it would sound out of tune.
Context is everything.
As you may notice, G doesn't have a sharp or a flat in C major! If string players relied upon accidentals to tell them how to tune a particular note, they would be out of luck seven twelfths of the time.
That process of adjustment: called intonation, happens after resolving which pitch class I want to play. It's not something that an arranger can control through the use of enharmonic spelling, but it doesn't stop them from trying!