Notated and implied piano pedalling: c.1780-1830.

This doctoral submission comprises two volumes and is entitled ‘Notated and Implied Piano Pedalling c.1780–1830’. Volume One consists of six CDs and contains performances of works composed between 1781 and 1832, recorded on historical instruments housed in the collection at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. The repertoire includes works by C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Hyacinthe Jadin, Clementi, Dussek, Field, Voří!ek, Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Chopin, Robert Schumann and Liszt. The works are performed on seven different pianos, six replicas and one original instrument, dating from 1780–1827. Volume Two is the Exegesis. While the history of pedal mechanisms and various forms of pedal notation have already been expertly researched and documented, it is often difficult to understand the composer’s intentions with regard to the appropriate use of the damper pedal in performance, especially in works from the Classical period. The Exegesis examines the documentation of damper pedal techniques from c.1780–1830 and articulates decisions made with regard to the use of pedal in the performance of this repertoire on historical instruments. The research is performance based, and draws heavily on primary sources and existing scholarship. Comparisons are made between the English, French and Viennese instruments and the schools of piano playing that developed, and the repertoire has been selected to highlight the growing significance of pedalling as an integral part of the performance. The primary outcome of this research resides in the recorded performances themselves. They represent the first fully detailed investigation of the various types of pedalling found in a comprehensive range of repertoire and documented through recordings made on the appropriate instruments.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 201