Pedal-less repertoire

[doudly]

Heya, Pianostreet <3

You can call me Doudly, I'm pretty much a self-taught intermediate level amateur, I guess.
I have been playing the piano for a few years, quite sporadically (), had a few teachers here and there but nothing serious. I'm also a trained singer, been part of the Pueri Cantores  for most of my childhood, so I have quite a lengthy musical background, and played bassoon five years during high-school, if that matters any ^^

SO, after a harsh first semester at college, I finally got back on track and started practicing again.
Not like I have much free time, but I can afford to practice 1-2 hours few days a week, time which I put, in the last weeks, on Chopin's op. 9 n.2 and some Debussy's (Clair de Lune and the 1st Arabesque).

Now, today, since I'm way through the Nocturne I was mainly practicing the emotions, the legato, the feel etc, but like 10 mins in MY SUSTAIN PEDAL DISCONNECTED. I have no bloody idea on how that happened, or why, but yeah, until I get some repairman to come over, which probably won't happen before a week or two (or three or four really :3), I'm pretty much screwed.

I can say goodbye to the Nocturne and the Suite Bergamesque for now, could work on the Arabesque but I also feel it's going to be a pain in the ass. So yeah ^^

Considering my approximate level (the Nocturne wasn't hard technically, I'm just real slowpoke material), could you fellas indicate me some pedal-less repertoire to work on until I get my pedal fixed?
Pretty much anything would work, honestly, it's just that my music literature skills aren't over the roof and I don't have any teacher right now so uh.
I would really appreciate it <3

Thanks, and have a good day!

(Also sry for my english, not my mother tongue and I'm real tired :x)

[hermansegerman]

ohhh, you are a lucky man...
I remember the time when I had no right pedal... it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom...you remember?... never mind!
Well, the time without pedal is priceless, you can finally practice the real legato, keeping the fingers very close to the keys...re-study some of your chopin etudes, czerny, burgmüller, you will profit from it!
 you know, when I was on my pianistic climax at age 18, I used the pedal with great joy, but now, when playing e.g. the winterwind, I make the quarter use of it. It's more delicate and surprising for the audience when omitting the right pedal when they most expect it ;-)

[quantum]

Hi, welcome to Pianostreet!

Some composers you may wish to look at:

Bach (there's a lot of it, if you don't like a piece doesn't mean you won't like others)
Buxtehude
Scarlatti (over 500 Sonatas to choose from)
Daquin
Soler
Pachelbel
Couperin
Clérambault

[doudly]

Thank to both of you, really appreciated!

Gonna look into that list, I'm also probably going to tackle some of Beethoven's easiest sonatas.

[ccleaver]

Maybe try some Corelli and Clementi too....quite beautiful and no pedal necessary!

[werq34ac]

No pedal may be necessary for all of these, but i would like to add that there's nothing wrong with adding pedal to Baroque music as long as you retain as much clarity as you would have without pedal.

[hansscherff]

You should try 'le petit ane blanc' by Jacques Ibert. Wonderful music, pedal should only be used in 2 or 3 measures, so you should be fine. Very fun to play and a nice exercise as well.

Best regards,
Hans

[slobone]

A lot of music even from the early 19th century sounds just fine without the pedal. Even Chopin, I think modern pianists tend to over-pedal. I can see how that might be necessary in a concert hall, but not so much in the home. If you look at an Urtext edition you'll see a lot of places where no pedal is indicated for a fairly long stretch.

And yes, I agree, this is a great opportunity to perfect your legato technique.