Editing Pedal point (section)

==Use in classical music==

There are numerous examples of pedal points in classical music. Pedal points often appear in early baroque music "alla battaglia", notably prolonged in [[Heinrich Schütz]]'s ''Es steh Gott auf'' (SWV 356) and [[Claudio Monteverdi]]'s ''Altri canti di Marte''.<ref>Gerald Drebes: "Schütz, Monteverdi und die „Vollkommenheit der Musik“ – „Es steh Gott auf“ aus den „Symphoniae sacrae“ II (1647)". In: "Schütz-Jahrbuch", Jg. 14, 1992, p. 25–55, h. 37–40, online: {{cite web |url=http://www.gerald-drebes.ch/page5.html |title=Gerald Drebes - 2 Aufsätze online: Monteverdi und H. Schütz |access-date=2017-07-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210657/http://www.gerald-drebes.ch/page5.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 |language=de}}</ref>

In [[Henry Purcell]]'s "Fantasia upon One Note" for a consort of viols, a tenor viol sustains a C throughout, while the other viols weave increasingly elaborate counter-melodies around it:
[[File:Purcell Fantazia upon One Note.wav|thumb|Purcell Fantazia upon One Note]]
[[File:Purcell Fantazia upon One Note.png|thumb|center|600px|Purcell Fantazia upon One Note, opening bars.]]

Pedal points are often found near the end of [[fugue]]s "... to reestablish the tonality of the composition after it has become clouded by the numerous modulations and digressions along the way within the middle entries of the subject and answer and in the connecting episodes".<ref>[http://musik.freepage.de/cgi-bin/feets/freepage_ext/41030x030A/rewrite/cpb7079/fuge.html "The Fugue"], an outline of the substantials of a fugue based on Hugo Norden's ''Foundation Studies in Fugue''.</ref> Fugues often conclude with figures written over a bass pedal point:<ref>Smith, Timothy A. (1996). [https://web.archive.org/web/19970615210334/http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/fugueanatomy.html "Anatomy of a Fugue"].</ref>
[[File:J.S.Bach, concluding bars of the Fugue in C major from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 846.wav|thumb|J. S. Bach, concluding bars of the Fugue in C major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 846]]
[[File:Bach Fugue C closing bars.png|thumb|center|500px|J. S. Bach, concluding bars of the Fugue in C major from ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', Book I, BWV 846]]
Pedal points are also used in other [[polyphonic]] compositions to strengthen a final [[cadence (music)|cadence]], signal important structural points in the composition, and for their dramatic effect.

[[File:Pedal tone in Bach's Prelude no. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851, from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, m.1-2.wav|thumb|Pedal tone in Bach's Prelude no. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, bars 1–2]]
[[File:Pedal tone Bach - BWV 851, m.1-2.png|thumb|center|440px|Pedal tone in Bach's Prelude no. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851, from ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', Book I, bars 1–2.<ref name="B&S"/> All pedal tone notes are consonant except for the last three of the first bar.<ref name="B&S"/>]]

Pedal points are somewhat problematic on the [[harpsichord]], which has only a limited sustain capability.  Often the pedal note is simply repeated at intervals.  A pedal tone can also be realized with a [[trill (music)|trill]]; this is particularly common with inverted pedals. Another method of producing a pedal point on the harpsichord is to repeat the pedal point note (or its octave) on every beat. The rarely seen [[harpsichord#Other|pedal harpsichord]], a harpsichord with a [[pedal keyboard]], makes it easier to perform repeated bass notes on the harpsichord, since both hands are still free to play on the upper manual keyboards.

With the development of the piano, composers began exploring the potential of a pedal-point in creating mood and atmosphere. An example is the inverted pedal that pervades the right hand part of the piano accompaniment in [[Schubert]]'s song [[Erlkönig (Schubert)|''Erlkönig'']]:
[[File:Schubert, Erl King, piano introduction 01.wav|thumb|Schubert, Erlkönig, piano introduction]]
[[File:Schubert - Erlkönig - M. 1-5.svg|thumb|center|550px|Schubert, Erlkönig, piano introduction]]

According to Eugene Narmour (1987, p.&nbsp;101) "There is no instrument on which a pedal point sounds better than the piano (with its ready-made damper mechanism), and, safe to say, no composer more fond of harmonic pedals than [[Chopin]]."<ref>Narmour, E. (1987)  "Melodic structuring of harmonic dissonance" in Samson, J. (ed.) ''Chopin Studies''. Cambridge University Press.</ref>  An example is the Prelude in D{{music|flat}}, Op. 28, No. 15, (the "Raindrop Prelude") which, like the Purcell, features one repeated note throughout.  The piece is in [[ternary form]], with its serene outer "A" sections contrasting the brooding middle "B" section:
[[File:Chopin, Prelude in D flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15, bars 20-31.wav|thumb|Chopin, Prelude in D{{music|flat}} Major, Op. 28, No. 15, bars 24–31]]
[[File:Chopin Raindrop Prelude.png|thumb|center|500px|Chopin, Prelude in D{{music|flat}} Major, Op. 28, No. 15, bars 24–31]]

In this prelude, the repeated bass A{{music|flat}} that pervades the outer section becomes, through an [[enharmonic change]], a G{{music|sharp}} in the minor key middle section, where it moves from the bass to the top part. There are other examples of piano music where a single note pervades almost the entire piece: a persistent B{{music|flat}} features in both [[Debussy]]'s piano prelude [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVV0jkZC4jI "Voiles"] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhpX-CyTvfw "Le Gibet"] from [[Ravel]]'s ''[[Gaspard de la Nuit]]''.

The term "pedal point" is also used to describe a bass note that is held for a long period in orchestral music, as in the symphonies of [[Jean Sibelius]]. Pedal points for orchestral music are often performed by the double basses with the bow, which creates a sustained, organ-like bass tone underneath the changing harmonies in the upper voices. The closing section of the third movement of Johannes Brahms's [[A German Requiem (Brahms)|''Ein Deutsches Requiem'']], "Herr, lehre doch mich" (bars 173–208), features a sustained timpani roll on D natural (along with sustained D by bassoons, trombones, tuba, and double bass) for over two minutes until the final D major chord:
[[File:Brahms requiem 3, bars173-4.png|thumb|center|500px|Brahms, Requiem, 3rd movement, beginning of the closing section]]

Ernest Newman (1947, p. iii) wrote of the "mixed reception" given to the ''Requiem'', particularly this movement, which "was greeted with many expressions of disapproval; the continual pedal point—intensified by the too vigorous work of the drummer".<ref>Newman, E. (1947) preface to the vocal score of Brahms ''Ein Deutsches Requiem'', reprinted in the 1999 edition.  London, Novello and Co. Ltd.</ref>

Another prominent example is the final "Maestoso" section of Scriabin's ''[[The Poem of Ecstasy]]'', in which a pedal point C is held by the lowest instruments, including an organ pedal, for over two minutes,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=XioZxg4QpHM3zQrS&t=1028&v=mGlOMlpedLY&feature=youtu.be |title=Alexander Scriabin - The Poem of Ecstasy (with score) |date=2021-03-18 |last=Contemporary Classical |access-date=2025-03-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref> instilling a sentiment of unrest and yearning for closure. It bridges across dramatic, harmonically complex developments, only briefly interrupted by the sudden general pause before the soft conclusion builds up to the penultimate, by virtue of the pedal point inverted Fmaj<sup>7</sup> and F<sup>7</sup> chords and into the concluding C major. In contrast, Holst's [[The Planets|''Mars'']] features a pedal point G across timpani and strings not at the end, but at the very beginning of the piece,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=V2aqzwwmLXLvt-ng&t=17&v=szT-ZhBo6Hk&feature=youtu.be |title=Gustav Holst -  The Planets, Op. 32 I. Mars (1914) |date=2023-04-16 |last=Bartje Bartmans |access-date=2025-03-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref> reflecting the inevitable mercilessness of war, and creating an unsettling contrast against the chromatically moving bassline in later sections of the piece.