Beethoven - Sonata Op. 14 First Movement

[RiskyP]

I am learning this piece and I am having some trouble with the pedaling. The pedal markings are usually for the entire measure, but this results in a highly blurred sound. Is this how it is really should sound?

How do you pedal this piece?!  

[Snuffel]

You should be very suspicious of pedal markings in all Beethoven scores. Firstly check if you are using an Urtext addition, if not the marks are very likely added by the editor and should be regarded solely as his/her suggestions and no more. Secondly remember that the pianos available to Beethoven at the time Op 14 was composed were very different to the piano you are using in terms of sustaining power so the effect of the sustaining pedal is very different. You need to take this into account and use the pedal markings as an indication of the sort of effect Beethoven wants and then try to produce it using your own instrument. Lastly, let your ears tell you how much pedal to use. The acoustics of the room or hall and the charactistics of the individual instrument have an enormous effect on the overall sound and you always need to adjust your pedalling to compensate.
In short there is no 'right' way to pedal any piece, you have to first decide on the sound you want to produce and then experiment until you can achieve.

Tom.

[BoliverAllmon]

Here is a trick that my teacher taught me about pedaling. You should pedal every measure, except when you change chords. You always pedal when you change chords. If you don't it will sound slurred.

BoliverAllmon

[Hmoll]

Which op 14 sonata is this - #1 or #2?

I have to check my urtext edition, but I don't think Bethoven put pedal marking indications in many of  his earlier composition, so I would bet that is an editor's marking. Which edition are you using?

Beethoven made only about 30-40 pedal markings in all his piano compositions - 32 sonatas, sets of variations, etc. He used the damper pedal a lot, and his pedal markings appear in his music to indicate his desire to pedal where most people would not use the pedal. In other words, if you do not see a pedal marking in an urtext edition, that does not mean it is wrong to use it.

[ayahav]

I am not very familiar with the sonata, but I have to say that BoliverAllmon's trick is a skewed theory about pedalling. Pedalling sometimes should be kept through chord changes. There is no technical rule to pedalling, it all comes from a pianist's musical sense. (the sixth one.)

[Rach3]

Ayahav, not to disagree but can you give an instance or example of holding a pedal through a chord change? I don't understand when it would be musical.

[ayahav]

in villa-lobos' "a prole do bebe no.1'' which I am currently studying, in the first movement Villa-Lobos asks at a certain point for the pedal to be held for over 32 bars. During this time there are outrageous chromatic harmony changes, but the blurring that occurs causes an atmosphere of mystery.
this is an example. Other examples can be found in a lot of Debussy music.

[RiskyP]

Thank you for the responses. I am talking about the first movement of the moonlight sonata, whichever number that is. I will try some of the suggestions made as soon as I have the chance to play again.

[88keys]

For the Moonlight, BoliverAllmon's rule would work quite well: Pedal every time you change chords (the chords include the bass).

This rule should be used, however, only as a general guideline. Your ears should be the final judge of when to pedal. If the music sounds too "blurry", don't hesitate to bend the rules.

By the way: Opus number are not the same as sonata numbers, because the "opus" list contains other pieces as well. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (Sonata #14) is Opus 27, No. 2 not Op. 14. And what made the mix-up even more confusing, is that Beethoven's Op. 14 is also a set of two piano sonatas (#9 and #10)... I hope this helps clearing the confusion regarding the piece discussed in this thread.