una corda/tre corda

Will Wickham wwickham@stny.rr.com
Tue, 16 Mar 2004 10:43:06 -0500


David et al,

According to the Harvard Dictionary:  "...direction to use the left 
pedal(soft pedal; F. pedale douce; G. Verschiebung), which, by moving 
the entire action, keyboard, and hammers to strike a single string (in 
modern instruments usually two strings) instead of all three. The 
indication is canceled by tre corde or tutte le corde. Beethoven, the 
first composer to use the indication una corda, calls for not only a 
gradual increase in volume (una corda, due, e poi tre corde; G major 
Concerto op 58, slow mvt), but a gradual execution of the shift...."

thought that might clear things up a bit...
will wickham
your musical theorist/historian for the day.


On Mar 15, 2004, at 11:43 PM, David Love wrote:

> Since the una corda shifts and hits two strings, why is it called the 
> una
> corda rather than the due corda.  I assumed that this might have been
> because in the early days there were only two string unisons, so that 
> when
> the una corda was depressed it did, in fact, strike only one string.  
> If
> that were true, then why, when the una corda is released, is the
> instruction given as "tre corda".
>
> Clear this one up for me please.
>
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos@earthlink.net
>
>
>
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