Dr. Hiebert became interested in this topic as a result of her early focus on coaching Beethoven's Piano Trios. Performance practice was central to her interests and led to exploring music in history. This presentation grew out of Dr. Hiebert's numerous lectures and papers about the links between science, acoustics, music and the piano during the late 19th century.
How do we view the history of the piano, technique, aesthetics, and relate practices to present-day performance? What really matters to us in music history as piano teachers? By considering pedaling technique in history, we can help our students make independent decisions about damper pedaling and listening more carefully.
"We cannot escape from the fact that we are inheritors of the past. The past becomes part of our present- day expression."
In the 18th century, rhythmic pedaling which produced a quick and bright tone was common. An important aspect of the evolving piano in the 19th century was the function and mechanical adaptation of the damper pedal. The syncopated pedal slowly caught on in the 19th century which resulted in a significant aspect of "newness" in writing for and performing on the piano.
The piano was immensely popular during the 19th century, especially late 19th century. The widespread practice of playing the piano, both for amateurs and professionals, and the great variety of piano designs contributed to the indiscriminate use of the pedal. Although the pedal practices of Liszt and Rubenstein were copied, there was little guidance for teaching the pedal during this time. Rubenstein said "I maintain that the discipline of how the pedal should be used to be the most difficult challenge for advanced piano teaching; and if we have not yet heard the piano at its best, the blame perhaps lies in that we do not yet understand how to bring out the possibilities of the pedal."
Pedagogues and composers were baffled by the great variety of pianos and the lack of direction in defining artistic pedaling. Piano builders were also looking for guidance from composers and musicians. The interplay between the imagination of piano builders and the desires of musicians was reciprocal - a kind of dialogue between the material means and the longed-for sounds. In the mid-19th century, they both began to seek scientific analysis and assistance from physics.
In an increasingly scientific culture in the late 19th century, scientists and musicians "brushed shoulders" as they probed for answers to puzzling musical problems. As a result, the various domains of music and the sciences became interwoven: aesthetic concepts changed and new musical ideals were strengthened and validated as new areas of expression became possible.
Hence, the piano played a dual role in society during this time: it was an instrument for practical music making and for scientific research in the laboratory. As the interest in science began to permeate the musical world, pedagogues absorbed new ideas and responded to the fast growth of the kinship that was developing, not only to acoustics but also to physiology and the new discipline of psychology. Scientific "informants", e.g., Hermann von Helmholtz and Ernst Mach and pedagogues, e.g. Hans Schmitt, and Ludwig Riemann, helped spread the circulation of acoustical knowledge and applied it to musical experience.
Hans Schmitt was a pedagogue who was instrumental in applying acoustical analysis in the practice of pedaling. Responding to a request from the Vienna Conservatory administration to invigorate the piano teaching program in the early 1870s, Hans Schmitt (1835 -1907) a well-known and highly esteemed piano professor, presented a series of four lectures on piano pedaling. These lectures became the basis of a book that for the first time was devoted exclusively to the art of pedaling Das Pedal des Claviers. (Pedals of the Pianoforte). Schmitt was praised and for the acoustical insights and for opening "new vistas" in piano.
Dr. Hiebert had a first edition copy of this book to show NEPTA member and said "It is an acoustical analysis guiding the student to tasteful, efficient pedaling."
In Das Pedal... Schmitt examined and illustrated pedaling problems along acoustical lines and employed some of Helmholtz's thoughts. Although the piano was evolving and was an instrument in transition, Schmitt strived to fill in the gap in the teaching of the pedaling objectivity. His orientation contrasted with the attitude of most musicians of the time who relied on tradition and intuition.
Schmitt lays the foundation in his book for the acoustical analysis of piano pedaling by guiding students step by step with many examples in the following:
- Rhythmic lifting dampers with the sounding tone
- Syncopated lifting after sounding the tone
- Anticipatory lifting before sounding the tone
- half-pedaling
- accumulate and strengthen sound
Schmitt clarifies rhythmic pedaling, timing the lifting of the dampers in coincidence with the finger/tone. It is useful at the beginning of a composition or after a general pause/rest. This was the approach to pedaling in the 18th century until the middle of the 19th century.
In syncopated pedaling, one treads the pedal after the note is sounded but as soon as the pedal in felt the finger is removed while moving to the next note. The moment the next note is sounded, the pedal is released, but quickly depressed again, thus binding the notes/chords together. Finger first, pedal next.The syncopated pedal also serves to enhance the nature of touch by allowing time for the fingers to position themselves between notes or chords during the sounding rest. A pianist can prepare a particular type of touch to execute the next sounding tone. In this way the pianist is allowed to rest and recover from the demands of touch and by lifting the dampers resistance of the keys is reduced.
Schmitt used examples to demonstrate the overtone series. The dampers, when lifted from the strings by the right pedal, release sound from all of the piano strings and allow the vibrating string (from bottom to top) to excite other strings that have common harmonics. Using the pedal in this way can enhance the totality of sound including dynamic effects. Schmitt also shows how melodic lines and important tones can be reinforced selective placement of the overtones in Song without words No. 10 in b minor (Final cadence) by Felix Mendelssohn. Dr. Hiebert used "Overtones" from Mikrokosmos Bk. IV by Bartok to illustrate this effect.
Schmitt cautions the student that the low registers of the piano should receive very little pedal. Arpeggios based on the overtone series, especially in the low registers, provide maximum beauty. Dr. Hiebert added that the pedal is best if it is used when a scale is descending but not ascending.
Schmitt was devoted to teaching all levels of piano students from elementary to advanced and devised ways to create in them a conscious "thinking" about pedaling and "listening" to the pedal to make objective, informed observations linked with subjective judgments. He believed that by the time a pianist was an advanced performer, pedaling techniques should be as secure as fingering technique. He affirms that artistic pedaling can be learned, it is not only a talent. To achieve these objectives among his piano students, Schmitt wrote numerous piano pieces and studies. Committed to helping students with small hands, Schmitt composed 300 etudes spanning less than an octave. He also wrote arrangements of exercises by Czerny and Clementi as well as Fundament der Klaviertechnik.
Hans Schmitt's work was pivotal in developing and teaching pedal technique. His emphasis on the intersection of music and musical acoustics charted the way to an appraisal of sustaining and articulating piano sound controlled by the damper pedal. This initiated a blending of the objective (musical acoustics) with the subjective (intuitive experiential). Many pedagogues adapted and extended Schmitt's innovative ideas to continue a kinship between acoustics and practice of performance. This process requires constant adjustment to the venue, the instrument, the music, the composer, and the historical milieu for comprehensive understanding and expression. Since all of these parameters are in flux, a fixed system of pedaling is not realistic.
Since pedal indications in scores of composers vary greatly, an understanding the basic nature of the sounding body and its technical resources is essential for making appropriate pedaling decisions. Schumann left the use of the pedal up to the performer. Mendelssohn added a few markings to his music; Chopin used pedal indications in great detail. Long notated tones and articulation slurs are some indicators of judicious pedaling. Dr. Hiebert used the following examples to illustrate this point:
-Transcription of Bach's "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" by Busoni
-"Traume am Kamin" Op. 143, No. 1 by Max Reger
-Prelude, Op. 35, No.2 by Scriabin. Although he left very few pedal indications in his "Preludes", hints (or assumptions) for the realization of pedaling appear through the pieces including anticipatory and half-pedaling.
-Op. 19, No. 6 by Schoenberg. He also left very few pedal indications and was reserved in using the pedal in general. However, the scoring in this piece, which was inspired by the bells at Mahler's death, implies using the damper pedal to convey the coloristic effects.
Hans Schmitt's pioneering work, with his emphasis on combining musical acoustics and the pedal, was pivotal and charted new ways to sustain and articulate piano sound controlled by the damper pedal. Many pedagogues extended and adapted Schmitt's innovative ideas and continued to develop a kinship between the objective (musical acoustics) and the subjective (intuitive experiential practice of performance.) A fixed system of pedaling is not realistic since all of the parameters, such as the kind of piano, the venue etc. are not constant. However, without an understanding of the basic nature of the sounding body and its technical resources, an adaptable artistic orientation in particular contexts is wanting. Musicians were grateful that Schmitt's analysis finally gave pedaling technique a solid foundation. Pianists listened more carefully and were aided in making knowledgeable decisions about how and when to use the pedal to enhance sound.
By influencing pedagogues to apply rigorous scientific analysis to musical sound, Hermann Von Helmholtz left an indelible footprint on the artistic production of pedaling. His enduring contribution to the analysis of piano pedaling lies in the fact that physical "experimental methodology can be applied to aspects of music perception." Through the application of his mechanistic research, piano performance was enhanced.
When science is brought to life by the human touch, it enlivens our spirits. Helmholtz and other scientists of the mid to late 19th century made great efforts to understand the mysteries of sound. In attempting to capture their thoughts, the musical community was enriched. Ludwig Riemann already in 1896 reminded or perhaps admonished pianists that "Feeling is not enough".
Schmitt's reliance on Helmholtz and the general field of acoustics opened vistas to the perception of the nature of sound controlled by the damper pedal. His guidance led to knowledgeable, tasteful pedaling based on informed decisions. This created visions for composers and pedagogues to a new level of understanding.Musicians realized that pedaling created "newness" in compositions. By the turn of the 20th century and especially by the end of the century, the imaginative use of the damper pedal was perceived by composers as part of the structural content of a piece of music and not only to produce expressive qualities.
