Pedalling in 'Le Vent dans la Plaine'

[nanabush]

I have a pretty specific question about this piece; I've learnt the notes and play the piece fluently, except I'm on an upright in a room that doesn't have excellent acoustics.

For those who have played this, do you use any pedal on the first page (and all of the bits throughout the piece like this section)?  I know it's supposed to be very light and quiet, but it sounds so damn dry on my piano!  I have the staccato notes with the left hand standing out a little with the right hand in the background, but without even a half pedal it just sounds awkward.

I'm searching around the forum, and found a few things about the piece but nothing too in depth.  Also, the speakers on my laptop are pretty bad  so it's debatable whether the stuff I hear on youtube has pedal here.

That's my only concern right now with the piece... I think I get a pretty good sound for the descending block chords and the forte chord leaps; there's just something missing from the main part of the piece.

Thanks!

[weissenberg2]

I have never played this piece, but from my experience you almost always need to use a considerable amount of pedal. Just don't loose the melody under it.

[thorn]

pedalling always depends on the piano and the acoustics. i personally play this with as little pedal as possible for the most part because thats what sounds good on the piano i use; too much pedal just makes it sound muddy. but then thats just the piano i use and my personal taste; ive heard recordings which use a lot of pedal and they sound just as good.

the first page i dont use any pedal, but that sounds horrible on some pianos so you need it. the best thing is to just experiment and use your ears; there is no standard pedalling for Debussy.

[nanabush]

Thanks for your replies 

I've ended up just using very light pedalling, because I agree about the issue about the notes getting too muddy.  It's a tricky part to get a good sound out of; reminds me of when I was doing the 3rd movement of Ravel's Sonatine, such a light touch and you want to use pedal so badly but for the same reason, there has to be very little in some areas.