Knee Levers (Pedals): Effects Lost on Modern Pianos
Lost on the modern piano: The creative effects achieved by using fortepiano knee levers (pedals). Let's take a look at how these unique characteristics can be exploited in Mozart's music.
TRANSCRIPT
Hello from Vienna. I'm Daniel Adam Maltz.
Today, let's talk about the two knee levers I have underneath my piano and how they influenced Classical-era music.
As my example, I’ll use the second movement of Mozart's sonata in C Major, K. 330.
First let's start with the right knee lever because that will be most recognizable to modern pianists. This, exactly as the right pedal on modern pianos, lifts the dampers so that we get a sustained sound like so.... [music playing]
The left knee lever is the interesting one because it does not exist on modern pianos and it's a sound that's been lost through the years. What the left one does is it inserts a piece of felt in between the hammers and the strings so that the hammer strikes the string through the felt and we get this lovely, obscured, ghostly effect. This is called the moderator and it’s something that composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and all of the Classical masters would have known, loved, and exploited.
Pedals were used differently in the 18th century. They were viewed as special effects — especially for Mozart and Haydn — and used either completely on or completely off, even for large sections of music. Today, the damper pedal tends to be used all of the time with frequent, quick changes.
In the middle section of the second movement in Mozart's sonata K. 330, I use both pedals to varying degrees to get this lovely, intimate effect. [music playing]
So, when used sparingly and tastefully, the use of these pedals can really transform music of the 18th and early 19th centuries.