Italian question

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Hector Pascal
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Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Italian question

Post by Hector Pascal »

Hi all,
I would like to put an instruction in my score / piano part to hold the damper Ped. down until the end of the movement.

I've come up with this:
Ped. (sempre sostenuto al fine del movimento).

If anyone here on the forum could check / correct my spelling and usage of the Italian words, that'd be really helpful to me!
Grazie,
Hector.
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John Ruggero
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Location: Raleigh, NC USA

Re: Italian question

Post by John Ruggero »

I put "pedal held throughout the movement" into Reverse.com translate and this came up:

pedale tenuto per tutto il movimento

You could try other versions and see which one you like. I assume that they would be grammatically correct.
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Harpsichordmaker
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Joined: 10 Apr 2016, 08:19

Re: Italian question

Post by Harpsichordmaker »

I’d say:

- Pedale [sempre] tenuto fino alla fine del movimento

Or

- Pedale tenuto per tutto il movimento.

Not “al fine”. “Fine” is feminine nowadays so it’s “alla fine”. Once it was used in masculine too (until the XIX century), today “la fine” means “the end”, “il fine” means “the purpose”.
Hector Pascal
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Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Re: Italian question

Post by Hector Pascal »

Grazie mille!
Ciao,
Hector :)
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OCTO
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Re: Italian question

Post by OCTO »

In my opinion:
" :ped alla Fine"
I think a lot of music text is overtexted. For the music notation we need less poetry. :)
Think of this: for each character you need to pay. So, less is more.
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Hector Pascal
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Joined: 17 Oct 2021, 23:15

Re: Italian question

Post by Hector Pascal »

Hi OCTO, I will try to remember that! Anything to save on laser toner!
Thanks & Cheerio,
HP.
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OCTO
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Re: Italian question

Post by OCTO »

Hector Pascal wrote: 02 May 2023, 11:13 Hi OCTO, I will try to remember that! Anything to save on laser toner!
Thanks & Cheerio,
HP.
The goal is not to save toner, but to enhance perception. Our objective is to notate music with maximum efficiency, clarity, and the quickest response time from musicians.
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John Ruggero
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Re: Italian question

Post by John Ruggero »

Hopefully, the pianist will not interpret Ped. al fine to mean Ped. sempre.

Beethoven wrote:

Si dove suonare tutto questo pezza delicatissimamente e senza sordini (=dampers off the strings)

sempre pianissimo e senza sordini

over the opening measures of the Moonlight Sonata and musicians are still debating whether he meant to hold the pedal without lifting it through the entire movement, or keep using the pedal throughout the movement and changing with each change of harmony, which was also an unusual effect at the time.
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OCTO
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Re: Italian question

Post by OCTO »

John Ruggero wrote: 02 May 2023, 12:00 Hopefully, the pianist will not interpret Ped. al fine to mean Ped. sempre.
But I do understand that Hector Pascal means "depress the sustain pedal and keep it down until the end of the movement."
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MichelRE
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Joined: 07 Aug 2021, 17:11

Re: Italian question

Post by MichelRE »

John Ruggero wrote: 02 May 2023, 12:00 Hopefully, the pianist will not interpret Ped. al fine to mean Ped. sempre.

Beethoven wrote:

Si dove suonare tutto questo pezza delicatissimamente e senza sordini (=dampers off the strings)

sempre pianissimo e senza sordini

over the opening measures of the Moonlight Sonata and musicians are still debating whether he meant to hold the pedal without lifting it through the entire movement, or keep using the pedal throughout the movement and changing with each change of harmony, which was also an unusual effect at the time.
mmm, wouldn't "sordini/sordino" mean without using the SOFT pedal, rather than without the damper pedal?

anyone debating this may have some linguistic and pianistic problems that aren't related to Beethoven's notation.

I was taught that the movement was meant to be played pp, but without the aide of the soft pedal.
The damper pedals, on the other hand (foot?), were a completely different thing.
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