suggest that the damper-raising pedal should be depressed throughout changes in
harmony and melody, thereby producing a confused sound on the modern piano and
some blurring on an early instrument. Did Beethoven really intend these effects? Czerny
is ambiguous on the subject. In his comments on Op. 27 No. 2 he says that “the
prescribed pedal must be re-employed at each note in the bass”. It is not clear from these
remarks whether Czerny is relating Beethoven’s own practice, or simply suggesting a
way of coming to terms with the pedal marking on a more modern piano. In a similar
instance from the beginning of the slow movement of the Third Piano Concerto, however,
Czerny explicitly states that Beethoven held down the damper-raising pedal throughout a
lengthy passage with several changes of harmony:
‘ “Beethoven (who publicly played this Concerto in 1803) continued the pedal during the
entire theme, which on the weak-sounding pianofortes of that day, did very well,
especially when the shifting pedal [una corda] was also employed. But now, as the
instruments have acquired a much greater body of tone, we should advise the damper
pedal to be employed anew, at each important change of harmony.”
‘This account is also interesting in that it shows how Beethoven used the una corda pedal
alongside the damper-raising pedal to minimise the resonance of the instrument, so as to
reduce the resultant harmonic blurring. The una corda pedal was also used in Op. 27 No.
2, according to Czerny, who observed: “The bars 32 to 35 remarkably crescendo and
also accelerando up to forte, which in bars 36 to 39 again decreases. In this forte, the
shifting pedal is also relinquished, which otherwise Beethoven was accustomed to
employ throughout the whole piece. (Beethoven was not in the habit of marking the una
corda at this date.)”
‘The evidence of Beethoven’s markings and Czerny’s remarks suggests that Beethoven
probably did hold down the damper-raising pedal for lengthy passages, and even whole
movements in the case of Op. 27 No. 2. If this was indeed the case, then Beethoven was
simply following established practice. Similar passages can be found in the music of
many composers around the turn of the century, in Vienna. Ex. 3.7 by Gelinek is a late
instance, where the effects of harmonic blurring are reduced by the direction piano in bar
2.
‘A similar passage by Clementi, published over a decade earlier, is even more cautious
with its use of a drone base throughout (Ex. 3.8). [Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) was the
first composer to write for the piano.]
‘Even in these examples it would be just conceivable to argue that the composer might
have intended the pedal to be released in the middle of the passage. This can hardly have
been the case in Ex. 3.9 [François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775-1834): Piano Concerto No. 1,
p. 14], however, where the direction for the damper-raising pedal (the Grande pedalle) is
for the whole variation, but that for the lute (the Sourdine) only for the quaver chords.
‘Beethoven seems to have been following a common trend in his use of the damper-
raising pedal for lengthy passages including changes of harmony. It was a relatively
short-lived fashion, however, because of the increasing resonance of pianos in the early
years of the nineteenth century. Markings such as those described above had virtually