The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling

“A most precious book which every serious pianist and teacher must own.” —Journal of the American Liszt Society

Pedaling—for color, for sonority, for sustaining certain tones—is an art, but one that must be based on historical considerations and on an understanding of the composer’s intent. In The Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling, Joseph Banowetz and four distinguished contributors present a comprehensive view of the subject. Here are practical suggestions and musicological insights pertaining to the performance of keyboard music from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.

The writers base their recommendations and suggested solutions to pedaling problems on the capabilities and sound qualities of the individual composers’ instruments and systems of notation. However, they stress that the player’s ear is the ultimate judge, and that pedaling technique may need to be modified to suit the piano in use, the acoustics of the performance space, and even the mood of the player.

“Every possible problem has been examined.” —Music and Musicians