Concerto (1807) and the Solo Sonatas, op. 101, 106, 109, 110, 111, in all of which the shifting pedal plays a great part. It is this quality of which Chopin, the great master of the refined use of both pedals, made so much in his compositions and his performance. The piano pedal used to be controlled in its shifting by a small stop or wedge in the righthand key-block, so that the shift could be made to either two strings or one at the discretion of the player. The latter was Stein's 'spinetchen,' the una corda or eine Saite of Beethoven, who expressed the return to the three strings by Nach und nach mehrere Saiten, Tutte le corde, or Tutto il cembalo (op. 101). The one-string shift in grand pianofortes has been for many years discarded, sharing the fate of the extra pedals that produced an imitation of a bassoon, or added a drum, a bell, etc. The use of the celeste pedal was indicated by Hummel with a special sign, thus ◬.[1]
Turning to the Forte pedal, Pollini invented, and Thalberg, Henselt, and Liszt carried to the farthest limits, the relief of the hands by the use of it. Indeed it gave the pianist the equivalent to a third hand; since it was no longer necessary to bind the fingers to the keys during the measured values of the notes; but by combining stronger expressed tone with the use of the pedal a melody could be made prominent, while the fingers were immediately free to take a share in the accompaniment or what not, in any part of the keyboard. By this expedient all harmonious extensions become possible. The effect of the forte or damper pedal is to increase the tone of the note struck by calling out the partial tones of lower notes which are equivalent to its full vibrating length or prime; the strings of higher registers becoming primes to the partials composing the note struck; in both cases by relation of measurement and by excitement from the soundboard.[2] The pedal thus adds a wonderful enrichment to the tone. The modern signs for its use and disuse are respectively 'Ped.' and ⊕, or a star. Herr Hans Schmitt, in his admirable lectures on the pedals (Das Pedal des Clavieres, Vienna 1875), proposes for the finer use of this pedal a notation beneath the usual staves
, thus by note and rest marking the action of the foot with the greatest nicety.
An important pedal (Pédale de prolongement ou tonale; Germ. Kunstpedal) was introduced by Montal of Paris, a blind man, and exhibited by him in 1862 in London. [See Pianoforte.] The object of it is to allow selected notes to vibrate while the rest are immediately damped. It has been again brought forward by Steinway and others, and its value much insisted upon. We cannot however believe that it will be of use in a concert room. The Kunst-pedal of Herr Zachariae of Stuttgart divides the row of dampers by four cleft pedal feet into eight sections, and thus facilitates the use of the staccato. [See Sordini.]
III. In the Harp the pedals are not keys, as in the Organ, nor do they modify the colour and amount of the tone, as in the Piano; but it is their province to alter the pitch in two gradations of a semitone each. The mechanical contrivance for this is described in the article Harp. [See vol. i. p. 687.] The invention of these chromatic pedals is attributed to a Bavarian, named Hochbrucker, about 1720. The gradual improvement and extended use of them culminated in 1810, in the Double Action harp at that date perfected by Sebastian Erard.
[ A. J. H. ]
PEERSON, PEARSON, or PIERSON, Martin, Mus. Bac., graduated at Oxford July 8, 1613. He was one of the contributors to Leighton's 'Teares or Lamentacions, etc.' 1614. In 1620 he published 'Private Musicke, or the First Booke of Ayres and Dialogues. Contayning Songs of 4, 5 and 6 parts, of severall sorts, and being Verse and Chorus, is fit for Voyces and Viols. And for want of Viols they may be performed to either the Virginall or Lute, where the proficient can play upon the Ground, or for a shift to the Base Viol alone. All made and composed according to the rules of art.' The last piece in the collection the composer tells us 'was made for the King and Queenes entertaynment at High-gate on May-day, 1604.' About the same period he became master of the children of St. Paul's. In 1630 he published 'Mottects, or Grave Chamber Musique, containing Songs of five parts of severall sorts, some ful, and some Verse and Chorus. But all fit for Voyces and Viols, with an Organ Part; which for want of Organs may be performed on Virginals, Base-Lute, Bandora, or Irish Harpe. Also a Mourning Song of sixe parts for the Death of the late Right Honorable Sir Fulke Grevil, Knight of the Honorable order of the Bath, Lord Brooke, &c. Composed according to the rules of art.' He died in 1650 and was buried in the church of St. Faith under St. Paul's. He bequeathed to the poor of Marsh, in the parish of Dunnington, in the Isle of Ely, £100, to be laid out in a purchase for their use.
[ W. H. H. ]
PELLEGRINI, Felice, an excellent bass singer, was born at Turin in 1774. After singing as a chorister in the Cathedral, he became the pupil of Ottani, who taught him counterpoint and the art of vocalisation. At 21 he made his début at Leghorn. His fine voice and good method were at once recognised, and he continued to sing with success at several of the chief Italian theatres, at Rome in 1805, at Milan in 1806, and at Naples from 1807 to 1810. In 1811 the grand part of the father in 'Agnese' was written for him by Paer; and in this he made his first appearance at Paris.
Though past his youth, he was favourably
- ↑ This arrangement of the shifting soft pedal exists in an unaltered grand piano of John Broadwood's dated 1793. It is thus possible that in this form it may have been an invention of that maker, or, if not his, an English invention simultaneously with Stein's.
- ↑ The partials above the prime also excite their equivalents in vibrating length, but will probably not be audible above the third or fourth. Owing to equal temperament-tuning the fifth partial could only be very feebly excited. At the seventh and eighth we arrive about the striking place of the hammer by which those partials are obliterated.
