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re PM's: this post and the one after it

gotcha

This is how I like it! Half pedal and changing mid-measure. It's so nice to know someone else does too. One of the rare times so far that I've disagreed with my teacher.

Reviving this thread as I just started this piece; I was on the hunt for just the right piece to learn - something not too easy, not too difficult, not too long, that I would like to play / add to repertoire, and that will teach me something new. I think I found it here. I checked the piano syllabus for something around grade 4; this is listed as grade 3, but it fits the above criteria. For those interested, I found this thread as I specifically wondered about the pedaling, and so I googled "Bach WTC Prelude C major pedaling" or something similar.

I'm going to work on it without pedal, as suggested above, in an attempt to improve my legato and technique. I also plan on using this piece to work on sight reading; incidentally; I was very happy with my sight reading on the first pass, but I will need time to play fluidly.

Below is the version I've been listening to:

https://youtu.be/Hy2tnBwx-Ow

But, of course if you're playing it for yourself, you are free to play it any way you like. It doesn't seem that there is much agreement about how it 'should' be played and I doubt anyone here has consulted Mr. Bach. Play it the way you like it best.

Flutter/half pedal - if there's too much dissonance or too much mud you have too much pedal. See how much legato/holding you can get with fingers then add pedal sparingly to your liking

It is an old thread - 2010 - but weird to see that I responded to it back then.

Recently I've been restoring a 2 manual harpsichord built in 1969. Its 7 feet long, with 3 ranks of strings. One thing I have discovered while playing it is that it has a very sharp attack and a short sustain (compared to a piano) while the key is depressed. The sustain does not last as long as a piano, and the volume is much less. But the notes do not damp all that well. The dampers are very small pieces of felt that rest on the strings when the key is not depressed. So the instrument has quite a bit of "ring" to it, and residual noise even after the keys are released and the dampers fall back on the strings, although it does not last more than a few seconds. The three ranks of strings (which can be turned on or off in various combinations), also pluck at different times, so there is some action noise that is very different from piano action noise.

It would be very difficult to get a similar effect on the piano since it is so resonant and powerful, the dampers work so well, and the action noise is so different. Crisp attack, soft volume, short sustain, and a "ring".

Sam

I like this account. The dynamics are just right. I notice that you're using Czerny's version, with the extra bar, which, personally, doesn't bother me a bit. There are some folks, however, who would object pretty strongly!

One should remember that Bach would have played this piece on his clavichord. The piece is simply a series of chords. Therefore, and in accordance with the stylistic conventions of the day, he would have held down all the notes of each chord until a harmonic shift or repetition occurred. This allowed the instrument to sing. He also would have held selected individual notes longer than their indicated duration when bringing out a harmonic movement or rhythm. Today, the equivalent technique on the piano is to achieve the same result much more easily with judicious use of the damper pedal.

Ignorance of the instruments in Bach’s day has led to the completely unjustified view of “No pedal for Bach”. It’s the same ignorance that leads people to say Bach invented Equal Temperament.