Innovative use of the damper pedal in the contemporary piano music

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Tchaykovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine

INNOVATIVE USE OF THE DAMPER PEDAL IN THE CONTEMPORARY PIANO MUSIC

Bezborodko Oleg

Candidate (PhD) in Arts, Assosiated

Professor of the Special Piano Chair No. 1

Annotation

piano music damper pedal

Безбородько Олег Анатолійович, кандидат мистецтвознавства, доцент Національної музичної академії України ім. П. І. Чайковського

Новаторське застосування правої (демпферної) педалі в сучасній фортепіанній музиці

Мета роботи. У статті досліджуються і визначаються основні шляхи новацій у використанні правої педалі фортепіано сучасними композиторами. Методологія дослідження базується на методах елементарно-теоретичного і структурно-генетичного аналізу та синтезу. Використовуються елементи стильового і виконавського аналізу. Компаративний метод дослідження даєзмогу провести аналогії між новаціями у використанні педалі сучасними композиторами і авторами кінця XVIII - початку XIX століть. Наукова новизна полягає в описі, класифікації та естетико-стильовому обгрунтуванні способів новаторського застосування правої педалі в сучасній фортепіанній музиці, зокрема в творах українських композиторів. Висновки. Основними шляхами новаторського застосування правої педалі є її тривале безперервне натиснення, що походить від зорі розвитку фортепіано як інструмента, її викори© Bezborodko O., 2017 стання як невід'ємного допоміжного елемента різних технік розширеного фортепіано, використання і вписування в фактуру різноманітних шумів, що видаються внаслідок дії педального механізму і вважалися раніше естетично неприйнятними. У творах авторів, розглянутих в даній статті, права педаль є потужним оригінальним і новаторським засобом виразності і фактуротворення.

Ключові слова: права (демпферна) педаль фортепіано, педалізація, розширене фортепіано, сучасна фортепіанна музика.

Аннотация

Безбородько Олег Анатольевич, кандидат искусствоведения, доцент кафедры специального фортепиано № 1 Национальной музыкальной академии Украины им. П. И. Чайковского

Новаторское применение правой (демпферной) педали в современной фортепианной музыке

Цель работы. В статье исследуются и определяются основные пути новаций в использовании правой педали фортепиано современными композиторами. Методология исследования базируется на методах элементарно-теоретического и структурно-генетического анализа и синтеза. Используются элементы стилевого и исполнительского анализа. Компаративный метод исследования позволяет провести аналогии между новациями в использовании педали современными композиторами и авторами конца XVIII - начала XIX веков. Научная новизна настоящего исследования состоит в описании, классификации и эстетико-стилевом обосновании способов новаторского применения правой педали в современной фортепианной музыке, в частности в произведениях украинских композиторов. Выводы. Основными путями новаторского применения правой педали являются ее длительное непрерывное нажатие, восходящее к заре развития фортепиано как инструмента, ее использование как неотъемлемого вспомогательного элемента различных техник расширенного фортепиано, использование и вписывание в фактуру считавшихся ранее эстетически неприемлемыми различных шумов, издаваемых при действии педального механизма. В произведениях авторов, рассмотренных в данной статье, правая педаль является мощным оригинальным и новаторским средством выразительности и фактурообразования.

Ключевые слова: правая (демпферная) педаль фортепиано, педализация, расширенное фортепиано, современная фортепианная музыка.

Main text

The relevance of the topic is determined by an incredible expansion of the timbral palette in contemporary music. The urge towards discovering new sonorities has been fully realized in electronic music. In acoustic music, composers have also been seeking unusual sonoric effects experimenting with non-standard ways of producing sound and extending timbral properties of instruments. In music for piano "extended piano techniques" comprise playing on the strings (pizzicato, with chopsticks etc.), instrument's preparation with the help of various objects (screws, bolts etc.), changing the instrument's timbre by damping the strings, both fully and partially (producing hamonics), striking the sounding board and other parts of the instrument, other noise effects. Composers reconsider also standard resources of the piano playing of which the most significant is the damper (sustain, right) pedal, famously called "the soul of the piano" by Anton Rubinshtein. The most complete and relevant works on piano pedaling are the books by N. Golubovskaya "The Art of Pedalization'' [3] and by J. Banowetz "The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling" [8]. However, they practically don't touch upon the issue of the innovative use of the damper pedal in music of the second half of the 20th century. On the other hand, the authors of works on modern piano music, including researches of extended piano techniques [11], either do not consider problems of pedalization at all, or touch upon it situationally and haphazardly.

The purpose of this study is to determine the main modes of innovation in the use of the damper piano pedal by contemporary composers.

Body of the article. As Ch. Rosen points out, "beginning with the 1830s, the almost continuous use of the pedal became the rule in piano playing" [12, 30]. L. Gakkel calls "the flourishing of illusory-pedal manners" in the piano work of the early 20th century "nec plus ultra of the romantic tendencies (Chopin, Liszt)" [1,6]. The resonation of all the strings of the instrument resulting from the pressing of the damper pedal greatly enriched the sound of the piano, became an integral part of its timbral beauty. In addition, the ability to prolong the sound without involvement of fingers contributed to the invention of new textures in piano writing and influenced the development of piano technique. The pianist could now tear his hands from the keyboard, freely carry them all over its space, what, in N. Korykhalova's opinion, "made it possible to liberate the playing apparatus, to apply more convenient, physiologically justified movements" [5, 203]. The use of the damper pedal became so natural that it was assumed by composers to be something for granted. N. Golubovskaya writes: "In all romantic and later piano literature the pedal is called for, although not necessarily written down, and constitutes an integral part of the texture" [3, 59]. Such a pedal the researcher defines as "texture-indispensable", in contrast to the pedal that enriches sonority - "coloristic" pedal. Furthermore, the art of pedaling had reached such a degree of subtlety and sophistication in romantic music that its exact fixation became impossible.

Yet in the music of the first decades of the 20th century neo-classical composers (Hindemith, Stravinsky, Prokofiev), who in many respects were in opposition to romantic aesthetics, develop the unpedalled style of piano writing. The extent of using the pedal has become an important stylistic marker in performing arts too. R. Taruskin, emphasizing the role of Stravinsky as the leader of the "objective" style of piano playing, cites Italian composer Vittorio Rieti, who gave Stravinsky special thanks "for not asking us to swallow crescendo porridge, pedal sauce, and rubato marmalade" [16, 364]. Assuming "pedallessness" to be a distinctive feature of the neoclassical tendency in piano writing L. Gakkel sees in the late works of Hindemith and Prokofiev "examples of stylistic synthesis: neoclassical solutions are combined with the methods of illusory-pedal, concert rendering" [1, 16]. Differentiation of pedal usage depending on the historical or individual compositional style becomes the subject of careful attention of performer.

In stylistic diversity of contemporary music along with the traditional dichotomy "pedalness - pedallessness" the searching for other, unusual ways of using the damper pedal is actualized in the common spirit of avant-garde intentions. At the opposite pole to the completely unpedalled sound is a long (sometimes throughout the whole work) playing without changing the pedal, i.e. with permanently raised dampers. Booming sound is produced, causing a feeling of a large resonating space in imitation of special acoustic conditions (cave, mountains, cathedral etc.), what helps to convey mysterious, sacral images. Such examples can be found in works by Gyorgy Kurtag (many pieces from the children's cycle "Jatekok''), Morton Feldman ("Intermission 5", "Palais de Mari""), George Crumb ("A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D.1979", written after Giotto's Nativity frescoes in the Arena Chapel at Padua¹). In two significant piano works by Ukrainian composer Oleksandr Shchetynsky, written as well as the Crumb's opus on Christian themes - "Prayer for the Cup" and "Praise Ye the Name of the Lord", - continuously depressed damper pedal connects over long fragments of music (several minutes and more) four-note discordant chords, resembling remote chimes, and a one-voice smooth, mostly stepwise melodic line. Such use of the pedal helps the composer to create an integrated sound space, similar to the sound space of Byzantine temple, in which the church bells tolling is mixed with the ascetic sound of unison choral singing.

It should be noted that the use of the damper pedal without "cleaning", that is, as a special timbral register of the instrument, despite its apparent avant-garde nature, is not something completely new. In this respect the innovation of contemporary composers appears to be akin to mastering new resources of the rapidly changing pre-romantic piano at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Unlike the Romantics, "Beethoven and his contemporaries understood and used the pedal as a register" [4, 37] to achieve special sound effects. Among these effects, particularly striking and still provoking debates as to its rendition is the socalled Beethoven's "sonorous pedal" (according to H. Grundmann's and P. Mies's classification), which mixes various, sometimes dissonant, sounds and harmonies². As L. Barenboim points out, such register pedalization was already known at the time of C. P. E. Bach and was caused by "the then construction of a pedalless piano with a damper register" [1, 94]. K. Hamilton assumes, that "gentle mingling of tonic and dominant harmonies seems to have been one of the most common ways of treating the sustaining pedal at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is found in pieces by Steibelt, Dussek, and Louis Adam, to name but a few" [10, 198]. Observing, that "a striking aspect of many of Steibelt's pedal markings is their duration" [13, 60], D. Rowland answers positively the question "Did these early pianists (including Beethoven. - O. B.) played whole movements or sections of work with the pedal depressed?"³ [13, 60-61].

In most cases, a prolonged damper (sustaining) pedal was accompanied by quiet dynamics, as, for example, in the 1st part of the "Moonlight Sonata". This manner of performance is surprisingly in harmony with piano works by Valentyn Sylvestrov, written 200 years later. The incessant resonance of undamped strings, together with the almost ubiquitous use of una corda and quiet dynamics, is an indispensable attribute of the piano writing of his numerous Bagatelles and Serenades. The composer very accurately indicates pedalization, avoiding unpedalled sound and preferring a vibrating or incomplete pedal (his favorite indication is 1/3 of the pedal). Paradoxically, the specific "Sylvestrov's pronunciation" of the conventional elements of the classical musical language, creating effect of mystery, otherworldliness, airiness and ephemerality, reconstructs a rather common among early pianists performing manner, which was described in a number of early 19th-century tutors⁴.

Thus, holding down of the damper pedal over protracted fragments of music has an independent value as an innovative method of piano writing. It also constitutes a necessary element for a considerable number of extended piano techniques, the most important of them is direct (not by means of keybord mechamism) playing on the piano strings. The technique was first applied by Henry Cowell in the 1920s in "Aeolian Harp" and "The Banshee". The latter piece requires for its execution two performers - one, standing and playing on the strings, and another, constantly holding down the damper pedal and thus allowing the piano strings to freely resonate. In the thesis on the history of the development of extended piano in 20thcentury American music, R. Ishii mentions the sustain pedal as a necessary element of the following techniques: plucking the strings, striking the strings (especially when hitting the strings with the palm of the hand or various beaters and sticks), stroking the strings, glissandi and tremolo on the strings, knocking various parts of the instrument [11]. To this list, we would also add a spectacular use of the damper piano pedal in chamber music for a timbral change of solo part: singing into the piano with undamped strings reverberating simpathetically with voice ("Ancient Voices of Children" by Crumb) and playing the solo instrument into the piano achieving the same effect. The most significant example of the latter technique could be "Misterioso" by Sylvestrov for clarinet solo (with a grand piano). The damper pedal of the piano should be depressed with a wedge throughout a 20-minutes piece and the composer asks a clarinetist to play "into the piano resonating chamber to generate echo-like reverberations" [15, 2]. In a piece-happening for chamber music ensemble "musica pura" by Oleg Bezborodko (premiered by the ensemble "Ricochet" at the KyivMusicFest-2010) a piano player recites a few lines from Andrey Bel y's memoirs into the piano with the constantly depressed damper pedal. The resulting echo marks the climax of the piece.

As we have shown before, pedal effects directly depend on dynamics. No wonder one of the names of the damper pedal is "forte pedal". Combination of the damper pedal with various changes in dynamics constitutes a rather extensive area of exploration for contemporary composers writing for piano. Often they use a technique when a sharp change of pedal is combined with soundlessly depressed piano keys. In contemporary Ukrainian music we can observe this effect in "Sonata No. 1" by Ihor Shcherbakov: the composer precedes appearance of the main theme both in the exposition and the reprise by a simple A-minor chord, which is taken silently on the pedal retaining previous atonal conglomerations. The following sharp change of the pedal brings this chord out like an enlightenment after a dissipating storm. A more avant-garde version of this technique, combined with playing on the strings, is found in "Serenade for five instruments" by Alfred Schnittke. At the end of the 2nd part, the composer orders the pianist to sweep glissando over the strings with the damper pedal depressed, than depress the indicated keys (D-flat major chord) silently and release the pedal. Schnittke calls this technique an organ effect, evidently due to the lack of any specific attack in this sound, creating the illusion of softness and, most importantly and unusually for piano, of continuity of the sound, devoid of its origin. Like the continuous use of the pedal, this effect goes back to the experiments of composers of the first half of the 19th century, namely, to Robert Schumann's "Carnavar. At the end of "Paganini" piece, after loud bass f minor thirds the dominant chord to A-flat major should be played pianissimo on the same pedal, after which the pedal is abruptly released and a strange disembodied sound forms a transition to the next piece. A lot of pianists interpret the Schumann's "pianissimo" here as an indication to play this chord silently [12, 75].

The pedal can also facilitate imitation on the piano of non-tempered glissando. This effect can be achieved by playing simultaneously two chords spaced a second apart with contrasting dynamics (forte and piano). Bezborodko uses this technique in his quintet "Lion's Breath". When a louder chord which has been muffling a quieter chord is released, the latter one, at first only contributing some polluting colouring to a whole timbre in imitation of un-temperedness, suddenly shows up making overall impression of a glissando, which is amplified by the damper pedal.

The difference in timbre of a single piano sound played with and without pedal is the main compositional idea in a piece by avant-garde German composer Helmut Lachenmann "Clouds in Icy Moonlight" from the children's cycle "Ein Kinderspiel". Repeated notes in the upper register of the piano are played throughout the piece alternately with and without pedal. The contrast "pedalness - pedallessness" ceases to be a style marker, it becomes the subject of timbre play. A similar and even finer example can be found in a piece by Luciano Berio "Erdenklavier" from "6 Encores". The composer discoordinates music text played on keys and the regularly released and depressed pedal thus forming equal small (longer just a little more than a second) timbrally contrasting music spans. Interaction of the pedal and dynamics is a key element of this piece as well, creating a variety of sound-timbral complexes from an unassuming one-voiced texture.

A completely innovative area of searching for original timbral techniques in piano writing lies in assimilation into music composition of various noises accompanying the action of the damper pedal. Throughout the history of piano such sounds have been censured and considered inappropriate by music lovers and critics alike. They testified either to deplorable state of the instrument or to bad taste of the performer. Inclusion of the objects of everyday life into the arsenal of expressive means is one of the most characteristic features of the 20th century art. Most clearly manifested in "musique concrete", it drew composers' attention to pedal noise as an aesthetically valuable material.

Audible knocking produced by forceful depressing of the sustain pedal and accompanying sigh-like noises produced by dampers instantly releasing the strings are found in the 3rd part of "Quintet" by Schnittke dedicated to the memory of the composer's mother. The measured, quiet knocking of the pedal rhythmically continues and completes the long piano ostinato "like the retreating steps of the Unknown" [7, 116]. Effective two fast and strong (indication FFFF) kicks on the pedal with a following fading strings' noise end the cycle "Half Fairytales" by Ukrainian composer Maksym Shorenkov. A sharp, clapping release of the pedal followed by its depressing sFz is prescribed by Lachenmann in his piece "Guero", built exclusively on non-standard playing techniques. In a piano performance by Karmella Tsepkolenko "Evening Solitaire" kicking the damper pedal is combined with kicking the left pedal. As Ye. Kharchenko describes it, "all the strokes on the pedal are logically thought-out in duration, which creates a special picturesque atmosphere of the game" [6, 155].

Specific noises can also occur when the dampers are quickly or slowly lowered to vibrating strings. Pierre Boulez proposes this undesirable in the classical or romantic repertoire effect as one of the options for completing the 2nd part "formant 2-trope" of his "Third Sonata". After taking several loud accords on one pedal, the composer suggests that a pianist lets them vibrate for a long time and then slowly releases the pedal so that the action of the dampers on the strings should be audible. In a one-minute piece "One Mom, Forty Dads" Bezborodko uses pedal effects similar to those of Boulez to imitate the sound of folk instruments. Thus, a sharp taking of the bass G on the pedal with a subsequent rapid substitution of the pedal so that the dampers only slightly touch the strings creates a continuous rattling sound with cut-out low frequencies, reminiscent of the timbre of drymba (jew's-harp).

The scientific novelty of this study lies in description, classification and aesthetic-stylistic justification of the innovative use of the damper pedal in contemporary piano music. For the first time the analogy is drawn between the pedal innovations of the late 20th century and the use of the pedal at the dawn of piano art - at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. For the first time pedal innovations in the works of Ukrainian composers Shchetynsky, Shcherbakov, Shorenkov, Sylvestrov, Bezborodko are analyzed and inserted in a wide context of world contemporary music.

Conclusions

Composers of the New music have been actively exploring ways of innovating the manner of using the damper piano pedal. Continuous depressing of the sustain pedal, which is often used in contemporary music, dates back to the dawn of the development of the piano as an instrument, when the damper pedal had not yet become an usual resource of playing but was perceived as an innovative technique. The pedal is an indispensable attribute of various extended piano techniques both solo and in interaction with other instruments or voice. The new aesthetics and imagery of modern music, the striving for unusual timbres made it possible to assimilate into the piano writing various noises produced by the action of the pedal which had been previously considered unacceptable. Although many modern composers continue to treat the pedal in the usual way and often give its application up to the performer, in the works of the authors we are examining in this article the damper pedal is a powerful original and innovative means of expression and texture formation.

Notes

1 Although as in many piano pieces by Crumb the use of damper pedal here is combined with various extended techniques, its importance as independent prevailing manner of expression is evident, particularly so in the 1st part "Visitation", which "encapsulates the dramatic range of the entire suite" [9, 3]. As W. K. Bland puts it in the program note for the score: "especially in this Suite, the use of very long, pedal-sustained sonorities, both tintinnabular and intimate, creates a background canvas from which voices appear and submerge" [9, 3].

2 For example, in the famous recitatives from the 1st part of "Sonata Op. 31 No. 2" (mm. 143 148, 153-159), according to a remark coming from the circle of C. Czerny, "Beethoven's intention was to achieve such sonority as if someone's speech was heard from the cave, where the sounds merge with each other" [4, 53]. Among the best-known examples of the similar use of the damper pedal by Beethoven we can point out the 1st part of "Sonata op. 27 No. 2" ("Moonlight"), where the author's preliminary note "se deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" requires performing the entire piece without dampers (i.e. with the constantly depressed damper pedal), Rondo from "Sonata Op. 53", where tonic and dominant harmonies, as well as same-root major and minor harmonies are being mixed on one pedal, "Concerto No. 4 in G major" (Coda of the 1st part as well as the second themes in final Rondo), 2nd part of "Sonata op. 101". Mingling of different harmonies on one pedal both in bass and treble register can be found in the 1st part of "Sonata in C major Hob.XVI/50" by Haydn.

3 In romantic performance Beethoven's sound effects were for the most part neglected, which was justified by supposedly significant differences in the sound of Beethoven's and later instruments. Artur Schnabel was one who opposed this point of view: "In Beethoven's case the effect of pedalizations demanded by him was exactly the same on the old instruments as on the new ones. <..> He simply created, also in pedalization, the unexpected, fantastic, adventurous" [14, 136].

4 D. Rowland cites Karl Czerny's mention of this manner, which produces "the soft undulating effect of the Eolian Harp, or of very distant music" [13, 45].

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