"
Now it is obvious that such dreamy AEolian-harp-like harmonies could
not have been produced without Chopin's novel and constant use of the
pedal. And this brings out the greatest difference between the new and
the old style of playing. In the pianoforte works of Mozart and
Beethoven, and even in those of Weber, which mark the transition from
the classical to the romantic school, there are few passages that
absolutely require a pedal, and in most cases the pieces sound almost
as well without as with pedal; so that, from his point of view, and in
his days of staccato playing, Hummel was quite right in insisting that
a pianist could not be properly judged until he played without the
pedal. But as regards the romantic school of Chopin, Schumann, Liszt
and their followers, it may be said with equal truth that a pianist's
use of the pedal furnishes the supreme test of his talent. If he has
not the delicacy of ear which is requisite to produce the "continuous
stream of tone" in Chopin's compositions, without the slightest
harmonic confusion, he should leave them alone and devote himself to
less poetic composers.
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