Press down silently?

[Ludwig Van Rachabji]

In some pieces (the Grieg Concerto or the Warsaw Concerto for instance) there is a note and written next to it are the instructinons "press down silently". What exactly is the point of this? What effect does the composer think you'll achieve by doing this?

- Ludwig Van Rachabji

[donjuan]

ah yes- that part

I know the exact part you are refering to in Grieg concerto.  It is similar to how the sostenuto pedal works- you play a chord with the right pedal.  While holding down the sustain pedal, you do all the mad arpeggios or runs or whatever and at the end, you silently press the keys of the original chord so the damper stays off the strings, and release the pedal.  The end result- the original chord is heard even though you have pressed and released the sustain pedal.  The arpeggios die out when you release the right pedal.  Does that make sense?  This is much easier to do on a grand piano because of the aftertouch feature.  On an upright it is so easy to accidentily play the chord again when you try to silently retake it.

donjuan

[xvimbi]

In addition to what Donjuan said, you may also get sympathetic resonances on that note, depending on what else is sounding.

[Ludwig Van Rachabji]

Thank you, both of you, for your help. 

- Ludwig Van Rachabji

[abe]

and it does sound really cool (the part in the greig), so it's worth it.

[Piazzo22]

To make it clear, just press a C Major Chord down silently and do a FFF staccato of one of the three notes an octave higher.