The edition by Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) of the Beethoven Sonatas was published by
Simon & Schuster in 1935 and the fifth reprinting was in 1953. In specific footnotes in
that edition Schnabel never advocated anything other than literal adherence to
Beethoven’s pedal markings. In relation to the first movement, Schnabel marked in each
bar the traditional pedalling and did not indicate by footnote or otherwise that this in any
way diverged from Beethoven’s intention as embodied in Beethoven’s two directions.
Schnabel did not refer to the unchanged pedal at all.
Critique of Schnabel’s view
Schnabel would have been familiar with Bülow & Lebert’s edition, which was published
(reprinted) by Schirmer in 1894, yet made no reference to it. This may have been, as is
argued above, because Bülow & Lebert proposed something close, or fairly close, to the
traditional pedalling. Alternatively, if this was because Bülow & Lebert postulated the
unchanged pedal theory then this bases an argument that Schnabel did not think much of
it.
Schnabel would probably have seen Tovey’s 1931 edition before he finalised the proofs
for his own 1935 edition. If he did not see it, then this bases an argument that the idea of
the unchanged pedal was unknown to him at that time. If he did see it, then this bases an
argument that he did not think much it.
Schnabel used the traditional pedalling in his recording.
Newman’s view 1972
William S. Newman in ‘Performance practice in Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: An
Introduction’ (J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London, 1972) stated at page 63:
‘Mention of Op. 27, No. 2, brings up the influence of pedalling on tone, especially as its
first movement has the most debatable of several controversial instructions for pedalling
that Beethoven left. At the start he wrote, “This whole piece must be played with the
maximum delicacy and without mutes [that is, with raised dampers],” and again,
“constantly pianissimo and without mutes.” Unless Beethoven was calling simply for
constant pedalling as needed, which seems unlikely, he was asking to let the vibrations
accumulate as long as the tones lasted, an effect that Berlioz endorsed when Liszt
exploited it in this movement. But by 1846 Czerny recommended a change of pedal with
each change of bass, noting elsewhere that such blurring was intolerable on the newer,
more resonant pianos. Today, on the modern piano, only an idolater like Schnabel would
continue to apply Beethoven’s instruction literally, ethereal and wonderful as its effect
may have been originally.’
Critique of Newman’s view
Newman offers no justification for his view that it ‘seems unlikely’ that ‘Beethoven was
calling simply for constant pedalling as needed’.