3.1: Rhythmic & Effect Pedaling on modern piano
Rhythmic Pedaling
The nature of modern piano, with its charateristic of the tone on a modern piano takes some time to develop combined with its lasting resonances, highly suggested the uses of syncopated pedaling. But the uses of pedaling had gone through a lot of experiments with the pianos.
The application of what Breitman called “rhythmic” pedaling is quite well-documented by many composers, especially Chopin:
Chopin had penetrated the secret better than any other master. He gave to his pupils several rules which only later found a place in the usual methods.14
Breitman suggested that we follow Chopin’s notation of rhythmic pedaling shown in these two examples: “Rather than changing the pedal with each bass note and producing a legato bass line, try releasing the pedal with the last note of each bar, just as the score says. Enjoy the breath that Chopin places between the harmonies. If the gap sounds too big, hold the last note of the measure a fraction longer.”15 The application of rhythmic pedaling is a challenging process, as the difference between with and without pedal is so vast on a modern piano, but it can be quite a useful tool to indicate clarity in the structure of the phrase and the beats.
“No pianist before him employed the pedals alternately or simultaneously with so much tact and skill. With most modern virtuosos, excessive, continuous use of the pedal is a capital defect, producing sonorities eventually tiring and irritating to the delicate ear. Chopin, on the contrary, while making constant use of the pedal, obtained ravishing harmonies, melodic whispers that charmed and astonished.”16
3.1.1: The following videos are my attempts at the application of this type of pedaling on an excerpt from Chopin Piano Concerto no.1 in e minor, Op. 11 (See Example 2). This pedaling technique offers a clear hierarchy of the beats and gives an airy lift towards the end of the bar, but it required total control of the finger legato and good independence of both hands. The execution on a copy of 1819 Graf does not differ too much compared to the modern piano in terms of touch; I focused on overholding the notes in the left hand as much as possible and tried to keep the continuity of the bass line. The pedaling was the main challenge, it required careful, gradual lift to not cause hiccups on both instruments, but I felt slightly less awkward on the Graf as it felt much more natural and much more forgiving to lift the pedal all the way up by the end of the bar. On the modern piano, I tried to lift pedal as much as I could without losing all the resonance otherwise the last few notes would not have enough time to develop into a proper tone, especially in case that requires a jump to the next bass. I made a comparison in the video on the modern piano to first apply syncopated pedaling before repeating with rhythmic pedaling, demonstrating that the application of rhythmic pedaling, even though challenging, can offer an interesting means of expression otherwise lost with syncopated pedaling.
3.1.2: The application of rhythmic pedaling was much more comfortable on the Graf piano in the following excerpt from the same Piano concerto (See Example 3), as the repeated chords in the left-hand decay fast enough to not disturb the melody and the flow of the phrase; the gradual lift still proved to be the challenge of this technique, as the last chord before the next bass note can easily create an unwanted accent. On a modern piano, I had to lift the pedal to half or less pretty soon after playing some chords as it started to grow rapidly in volume, and the same difficulty applies for the end of each pedaling group. We can also see the hint of effect pedaling in the same example, as Chopin notated long pedal to accompany the brilliant right-hand.
Effect Pedaling
3.1.3: The other use of pedal that needs to be translated on a modern piano is when a composer indicates a single pedal for a long period of time, this creates a sparkling, dreamy effect; but with the sustained sonority of the modern piano, this pedaling effect can result in a cloud of incomprehensible noise. The ‘correct’ amount of pedaling is a subjective matter and has a lot of factors such as the performance space or the piano, but the study and experiments on these different uses on the original keyboard can be highly inspiring and application on a modern keyboard is possible with some attentive adjustments.
The following examples show the Coda section of Beethoven Piano Sonata in A-flat, op. 26, Czerny suggested that “The last 15 bars senza sordino (that is, with the Pedal, as it was indicated at the period when this Sonata appeared.)”17 This seem to suggest the use of an effect pedaling to cover the entire coda in one pedal, but it could also just mean to apply pedal(s), since there seems to be no evidence of the ‘original indication’ as he mentioned, as the senza sordino only appeared in the last four bars. (See Example 4)
The use of a long pedal for the entire Coda seems appropriate when I apply it on a copy of 1795 Walter piano, with some accentuation of the top melodic line balanced with a soft middle part. The application on a modern piano required some half clearance here and there, especially with the melody gets denser and again in the last 4 bars as the ‘dirty’ resonances remain too present for the closing tonic harmony. Bülow’s commentary indicates his preference for a similar effect although he retained the pedal marking for the last four bars, he suggests that “This charming Coda must end dreamily, as if lost in reverie, but not begin so; therefore, no perceptible change in the Tempo should be made, letting the calando, both as regards tone-power and movement, creep on very gradually.”18 (See Example 4.1)
