Renie’s Legende-Pedal NIGHTMARE

[Ian McVoy]

Hi!

[unknown-user]

Okay, here’s how I did it:

assuming your pedals at the beginning

[vince-pierce]

Sam, I love your pedal diagram! I never would have thought of that. That’s definitely a great tool for communicating with other harpists, especially when you’re going to perform with someone who lives far away. Thanks!

Vince

[unknown-user]

Thanks Vince, I actually got the idea from some old Russian/Eastern European editions that use the traditional pedal diagram (when printing, not personal notes) except that the symbol used in each position was different… and so it looked something like…

[unknown-user]

BTW, Ian, I just watched a video of Hannah Kuipers, who just competed in the USA competition, playing Legende. At the part you mentioned she had a bit of trouble, but it appears to me that she did as the music instructed – moving both the D and B pedals to natural simultaneously, which you do by switching the B pedal with your right foot. That’s tricky, though, and risky during a performance (especially in a competition, if you’re going for Israel or the next AHS Young Proffesional division!) so I’d use

[alice-freeman]

Off-Topic PC Tip:

On a PC, if you type something and get a “smiley” face you don’t want, immediately hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the letter z and it will undo the conversion of the characters.

— Alice in windy Wyoming

[Ian McVoy]

hi!

[unknown-user]

Nevermind about the second thing I said (about moving D and B simultaneously) – it was just a thin connection I made because I remembered seeing an indication to move the D and B pedals simultaneously in the music AND I thought I saw a video of someone doing this. (although you can’t quite see her legs or feet) After looking at it some more, it doesn’t appear that moving D and B simultaneously is possible/helps. Just use my first suggestions, which does work.

The name of the font is EngraverTextH. It should come preloaded with Finale. You can even use it in word!

~Sam

[barbara-brundage]

Ian, you might also be interested in this thread about harp notation with finale:

http://www.harpcolumn.com/forum/message-view?message_id=58194

[antoine-malette-chenier]

Hi Sam,

I actually move the B and D together, and I have never missed it, but here is the only way it works for me:

-On the second eight-note, put the B up to flat, to be able to;
– press down to natural the B and D, but holding them (not locking the pedals)on the 3rd eight-note and then;
– Release the B and D to flat while releasing the G to flat with the right foot.

I’m definitely going to try your setting, though, thank you for the advice!

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I don’t know this well, but I would say, play something with much harder pedaling, and it will seem easier. Renie had to have a way to do it, so keep trying. Sometimes it is a question of timing, moving a pedal slightly early or late.

[unknown-user]

Saul,
I’m intrigued by your comment, “play something with much harder pedaling, and it will seem easier.” Do you mean that this section will feel easier after the player has played some other piece that is more difficult for pedals, or that the most difficult pedals end up seeming easy after awhile? Something else perhaps?

I do wonder how Renie did it. I’m sure someone like Susann McDonald would know. Maybe someone should ask her… The music does indicate moving Si and Re simultaneously, so one would think that that’s the way Renie did it. You have to have reasonably sized feet to do it very comfortably, though. Antoine’s pedaling is actually a lot simpler than mine, and it’s a relatively easy to do. The double pedal really is not trouble if you do not lock the pedals. However, it is slightly destabilizing, especially since you have to move a pedal with your right foot as well. Either way definitely works, though. I’m personally not going to change it now, just because I’ve played the piece for so long, and I’m used to the extra pedals. I think that both ways could be presented to the student for equal consideration.

My solution really doesn’t require any nuance in the timing – it’s straight forward and simple, though it can feel like you’re dancing a bit!

~Sam

[carl-swanson]

Remember that Renie was playing an Erard harp, which has pedals that are light as air. They have almost no resistance to them at all.

[unknown-user]

Yes, that’s a good point. However, I found that the awkward position that I had to twist my foot was the action that was so destabilizing, not necessarily the actual pressing down of the pedals. That might just be the way my body is, though.

~Sam

[carl-swanson]

Sam- Renie was TINY. perhaps no more than 5 feet tall. So that may have made it easier for her to do some of these things. In her printed version of the pedal nightmare in the Danses she also has the right foot pressing the E and G pedals simultaneously.

[Author]

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