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"... Âa most precious book which every serious pianist and teacher must own." —Journal of the American Liszt Society
Joseph Banowetz and four distinguished contributors provide practical suggestions and musicological insights on the pedaling of keyboard works from the 18th to the 20th century.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A excellent and detailed study of piano pedaling,
By
This review is from: The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling (Midland Book) (Paperback)
This books is a resource for advanced classical piano students. It covers all manner of pedaling techniques, and adresses a wide scope of composers, including the classics, romantics, as well as baroque. All the pedaling examples are supported by score extracts, showing the exact suggested pedaling, and the various composers are discussed at length with regards to pedaling style & performance practices. Remember that using the pedal (although it sounds simple!) is something not mastered well by many pianists, and it can be enormously effective in generating a wide spectrum of tonal effects. You have to be a serious classical piano student to appreciate this book - but if you are, it is definately worth it!
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book For Serious Piano Students,
By
This review is from: The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling (Midland Book) (Paperback)
A past master of the piano once said that the pedal was the soul of the piano. This book gives much detailed and practical information and advice on piano pedaling. It is a valuable addition to the serious student's library. The judicious use of the pedal can make all the difference between an inspired or mediocre performance. It is a very subjective art, and this book handles the subject matter very well. Recommended
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A much needed treatise,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling (Midland Book) (Paperback)
As another reviewer noted, the great pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff stated that "the pedal is the soul of the piano." Any piano teacher can tell you the teaching the art of pedaling is one of the most challenging (and at times) difficult part of pedagogy.
This book constitutes a fine treatise on this essential part of the pianist's technical equipment. And it's not just the damper (or right) pedal that gets discussed. Included are whole chapters on both the left pedal (or una corda pedal--a misnomer on modern grands, since the keyboard shifts enough to strike not one, but two strings), and on the middle pedal or sostenuto pedal, the presence of which remains a mystery to most folks. (Actually, European grand pianos for the most part lack a sostenuto pedal, and since the vast majority of the repertoire is by European composers, its use in performance is problematical). There are also whole chapters on pedaling the music of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (he gets 2 chapters), Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Ravel and Debussy. There is also a fascinating (albeit too short) chapter on the "Catalan School" of pedaling, epitomized in the virtuoso playing of Alicia de Larrocha, and needed to properly perform the work of Enrique Granados. This last subject was something completely unknown to me prior to acquiring this book, and I found the discussion very interesting, since it required me to re-think completely my use of the damper pedal, and to listen much more carefully to my own playing. The Catalan approach to pedaling is both more and less intuitive than any other method of approaching this thorny subject (if that doesn't make sense, read the chapter and you'll see what I mean). Sadly, there is nothing here on pedaling the music of Rachmaninoff. That omission is regrettable, since Rachmaninoff himself was so clear on the need for pedaling mastery, and because his authentic pedaling indications in his own compositions are notoriously absent. (Almost all pedaling indications in Rachmaninoff's published compositions are the work of editors.) For that reason, this book gets only four stars in this review. We still await an adequate discussion in print on pedaling Rachmaninoff's very difficult compositions. Two other caveats are necessary: First, this is not a book for beginners or intermediate level pianists. One needs to be far advanced in his or her abilities before reaping the rewards this book offers. Second, the reader should have access to a fine grand piano; smaller acoustic pianos (either consoles or spinets) and electronic keyboards do not have either the features or the mechanical response that allow the reader to employ what he or she learns. One is also advised to have at hand the scores to the various compositions discussed, since the examples are numerous and very detailed. This book doesn't deal in platitudes or sweeping generalizations, but rather in the nitty-gritty of music: detailed measure-by-measure descriptions and suggestions. And this is what makes the book so very valuable--for much less than the price of one lesson with a master teacher, the reader gets enough suggestions, information and ideas to last a lifetime. In summary, if you've got access to a grand piano and the technique to make use of the authors' suggestions and insights, or if you're a teacher of advanced level students, this is a book that you'll be glad to own. I'm glad I bought it; my own playing has improved tremendously, and my understanding of this important but under-discussed aspect of piano virtuosity has been greatly enlarged.
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