I'm doing a Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue for Grade 8, and there are no indications at all about pedalling. I'm happy to play the fugue without any pedal, but I want to pedal in the Prelude. ...

The other pieces I'm doing both have suggested pedalling.

yea this is a good question. Because i have 32 Beethoven sonatas and there are no pedaling indications. Im sure that its just the version I have because im sure Beethoven has indicated the pedal at LEAST once in 32 of his sonatas.

mine's has the sign:

Ped. on it...
i know some music has the sign:

Ped_________ over the pedal phase.

Which one are you doing - I'm doing Shostakovich's 1st Prelude in C major (the Fugue is beyond me) - it has no pedalling marks but I'm using the pedal quite a lot under my teacher's direction. There's no other way to make those big chords sound connected really.
Cat

QUOTE (ConcertPianist @ Mar 7 2005, 04:01 AM)

yea this is a good question.  Because i have 32 Beethoven sonatas and there are no pedaling indications.  Im sure that its just the version I have because im sure Beethoven has indicated the pedal at LEAST once in 32 of his sonatas.

Research, my good fellow!

The sustain on Beethoven's earlier pianos was operated by a knee lever, and its operation was nowhere near as convenient as the sustain on a modern piano. In his earlier sonatas, he uses the:

Ped * Ped *

notation - sustain on on Ped, sustain off on *. Obviously, this is quite cumbersome notation, but given the operation of the pedal was a little cumbersome too, it all came out in the wash.

Later, I think around Piano Sonata 15, he switched over the 'modern' notation of:

P______^______^___|

as the pedal control moved down towards the foot, and a flick of the ankle is more convenient than having to move one's knee downwards (to disengage the sustain) and then raise it again.

Having said that, he doesn't indicate the use of the pedal all that often. Reports (e.g. Czerny) suggest that he used it extensively in his playing; however, in his publications, he left it up to the performer to decide when to do so.

Historically, the classical period sits, roughly speaking, between two mindsets adopted by composers: baroque*, where performers had greater freedom to ornament as they saw fit, tempo ordinarii were commonplace, few (if any) dynamic instructions; and romantic, with detailed dynamic instructions, performance directions, metronome markings and so on. If you think it should be pedalled, go ahead and do so; if you're unsure, you could do worse than listen to a recording - Brendel's are regarded as particularly scholarly. If you want a good read, have a look at 'The Beethoven Companion', at least the sections on his pianos and piano works.

* in fact, Bach was criticised at the time for over-specifying how he expected his ornaments to be played - the practice of 50 years earlier was to leave it even more so up to the performer.

Catrin, I LOVE the C major prelude! Anyone who has never heard this piece is missing out on life. The chords are just stunning - so much passion!
Do persist with the fugue - it is worth the effort. I think it will grow on you with time.

I'm doing the Prelude and Fugue in D major. I feel it is a huge privilege to work with music like this - there's something really magical about it - I'm doing Schubert and Chopin, but they don't "get" to me anywhere near as much as Shostakovich.