Source: Page 64 of ‘Possibilities of Tone Color by Artistic Use of Pedals’ by Teresa
Carreño contained in ‘The Art of Pedaling: Two Classic Guides: Anton Rubinstein and
Teresa Carreño’, Dover, 2003.
So far as the Liszt Sonata is concerned, the above comments regarding pedalling might
apply to bars 8, 55, 61, 270-277, 297-300, 301-305 and 665-672.
‘The rule in Liszt is quite simple: pedal or the heart of the music will cease to beat.
Pedal-less playing in Liszt is very rare, and is reserved for special effects. Unless
instructed otherwise, the pianist should allow the sustaining pedal to cast its radiating
glow over the entire texture, adding color and beauty to the very fabric of the music.’
(Walker in ‘Reflections on Liszt’, page 136)
Liberal use of the pedal throughout the Sonata seems vital to the overall effect and it is
hard to imagine a performance without some use in almost every bar. This seems
indirectly corroborated by the pedal indications in or through almost every bar of the
original edition of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz. The Liszt Sonata editions issued by Liszt’s
pupils, such as Sauer’s Peters edition and Joseffy’s Schirmer edition, provide editorial
pedal indications liberally, although Sauer in his Peter’s edition, modifies Liszt’s
indications for bars 555-567.
The crisp, dry, Bartók and Prokofiev approach to pedalling favoured by some pianists in
their playing of the Liszt Sonata seems historically and musically untenable.
The whole question of the pedalling of Liszt’s works on the modern grand piano is a
contentious area linked with the issue of sonority.
Soft pedal
Both in his autograph manuscript and in the original edition, Liszt indicates ‘una corda’
(soft pedal) at bar 329 two bars before the Andante sostenuto, and ‘sempre una corda’,
(soft pedal throughout) at the commencement of the Quasi adagio at bar 347. Liszt
follows his custom of not marking the necessary cancellation ‘tre corde’ (release the soft
pedal) but this would presumably occur at or about bar 360. The ‘New Liszt edition’
marks ‘tre corde’ at bar 363 but this is an editorial addition.
Soft pedal could be used in other places, such as bars 124-140, 153-188, 398-459.
D’Albert used it often in his 1913 piano roll recording of the Sonata but this has no effect
on the quality when the roll is reproduced on an upright piano. Soft pedal usage is,
however, apparent from observing the piano’s hammers during the playing back of the
roll.
The Pädagogium says this about the Cantando espressivo (bars 162 and 164):
‘Use una corda (soft pedal) and play ppp.’