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Pedalling moonlight sonata


Octopus

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Hi, how much do you use the pedal in moonlight sonata 1 mov?

 

Scores from three different books in my liberary says

different.

 

Two scores says (una corda) this is the soft pedal, the one to the left at grands with three pedals. But I only have two pedals at my piano (Bröderna lager from 1950). And one pedal at my yamaha cp-300.

 

Pedal with soft pedal the whole way thrue, and the sustain up to the pianist?

 

Do you use the teq half damp to avoid blurry and dissonance?

 

The more i listen at old recordings (like Wilhelm Kempff) the more i think that they dont use the sustain pedal that much.

 

How do u play this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

NS2 88, Yamaha Cp300, Moog Little Phatty, Hammond Sk2, Roland Fantom X6, Ventilator, Nord C2D, Leslie 3300, Leslie 122

 

 

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Funny, I don't consider Kempff to be a particularly old recording, but then I'm 50. Check out Artur Schnabel and Rudolf Serkin for comparison.

 

Keep in mind that Ludwig rarely put in any indications for damper pedal ( AKA sustain pedal ). Ther are some pedal marks in his scores that indicate mushing some very contrasting harmony together. This sounds quite different on the pianos he played on, due to the much lower string tension on those instruments. So, I think half-pedaling or some other interpretation of his marking is appropriate.

 

Back in the day when sheet music was the primary way of distributing music, publishers typically hired a famous pianist as editor, and they would include lots of fingering, pedal, phrasing, and extra dynamics marks. If you're interested in seeing a score that contains only what Beethoven wrote in his manuscript, look for an urtext edition.

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Hi, I play the softest parts with the una corda pedal (mostly at the beginning and the very end), and a very little damper throughout the piece. It's too easy to make it sound unclear, that's why I use very little damper.

If you can find an Alfred Brendel or Baremboim version, those are good ones!

You can substitute the una corda for the left pedal of your piano (probably your left pedal is sordino), that makes a similar effect...

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Tnhx for all help and tips!

 

It sounded better with my left pedal pushed down the whole movement and tried to halfdamp with the right one.

 

Now first and second movement is learned and im working on the third one... it is really hard for me. Im lost after rolling up the arpeggios (at 0:14-0:20 in the clip below)

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

And here is my old dark lager beer ;-)

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41266903/bild%288%29.JPG

 

 

NS2 88, Yamaha Cp300, Moog Little Phatty, Hammond Sk2, Roland Fantom X6, Ventilator, Nord C2D, Leslie 3300, Leslie 122

 

 

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One of my teachers used to say that Beethoven joined the first, easy-to-play movement with a very difficult third movement, in order to avoid hordes of amateurs playing it...

 

 

But he was wrong ;-)

 

Hordes of amateurs are playing it!

 

This sonata breaks the trad form thats why it is called "Quasi una fantasia".

 

Im looking forward to learn the whole sonata.

 

 

 

 

NS2 88, Yamaha Cp300, Moog Little Phatty, Hammond Sk2, Roland Fantom X6, Ventilator, Nord C2D, Leslie 3300, Leslie 122

 

 

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Ja det är svenskt ;-)

 

Yes it is a swedish. I am from Nässjö.

 

And I agree, Wilhelm looks like Beethoven himself sitting there.

 

Look at the expressions in his face when playing. Wonderful and beutiful. The only time he looks at the keys (a longer time) is at the promenade of the dim-scales (sounds like).

 

[video:youtube]

NS2 88, Yamaha Cp300, Moog Little Phatty, Hammond Sk2, Roland Fantom X6, Ventilator, Nord C2D, Leslie 3300, Leslie 122

 

 

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I have the complete 32 Sonatas in a boxed set by a couple of different people.

 

Barenboim, Arrau, Brendel, the "late" last four with Pollini and finally Kempff. They're all masterful obviously but technique aside, I probably find myself putting on Kempff most often when I want to hear the Beethoven Sonatas..

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris

 

2005 NY Steinway D

 

 

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