The Prolonged Touch: Finger Pedaling and Legatissimo in Classical and Early Romantic Piano Music

Blake Proehl

The term prolonged touch comes from Carl Czerny and is synonymous with finger pedaling, legatissimo, overlegato, and, in some cases, legato. This was a common technique used by the early pianists who took it out of the practices of harpsichord, clavichord, and organ playing. Its use in piano music declined during the Romantic period and beyond, due to the development of the piano and its sound, the advancement of damper pedal technique, and a more "literal” reading of notation. My research aims to understand how and where in music the prolonged touch was used in Classical and early Romantic piano music. Passages describing this technique were found in treatises and works by C. P. E. Bach, Türk, Milchmeyer, Adam, Hummel, Moscheles, Czerny, and more. From these passages, I examined the ways the aforementioned composers notated or indicated the use of this technique in their compositions. Next, based on what the treatises tell, I organized categories of musical applications of the prolonged touch. And then I gave examples from piano literature to further illustrate their use within each category. Finally, I demonstrated my artistic use of the prolonged touch in Mozart’s Sonata in F major, K. 332.

Figure 1.5. Rösler’s arrangement, mm. 6-171

Figure 1.6. Winkler’s arrangement, mm. 6-152

What Happened to it?

There are several factors at play in the decline in the use of the prolonged touch. The first one is the development of the piano. As the piano grew in size during the nineteenth century, so did its sound. The modern piano does not require the richness from the prolonged touch like the older pianos did. Nor does a modern piano tolerate it quite as well. The sounds tend to compete much more than blend like they did on parallel strung instruments.

The second factor is the development of the pedal technique. The use of the sustain pedal was becoming more and more sophisticated in the early Romantic period. The later pedal technique allowed pianists to do more leaps while sustaining the sound. Therefore, the sound could be richer without the hands needing to sustain chords like the case is with the prolonged touch. A clear example of this occurs with arrangements of Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20. Beethoven himself made an arrangement in 1803 for piano trio of this work. In it, there are many passages that could have the prolonged touch applied. This is especially true because the range of some of these chords does not extend beyond an octave.

Figure 1.1. Beethoven's arrangement, mm. 7-133

Figure 1.2. Hummel’s arrangement, mm. 8-144

Figure 1.3. Czerny’s arrangement, mm. 6-155

Next is a Septet, Op. 20 arrangement for solo piano by Friedrich Hermann from ca. 1853. The most important thing to note is that the leaps in mm. are too large for just the hand so the pedal must be used. Refer back to figure 1.2 and notice how those leaps are possible within the hand’s normal span.

Figure 1.4. Hermann’s arrangement mm. 8-146

Finally, here are two more Septet, Op. 20 arrangements for solo piano that have even more leaps and almost no stable position for the application of the prolonged touch. Figure 1.5 is by Rösler in 1870, and Figure 1.6 is by Winkler in 1864.

Figure 1.7. Engel’s accompanying group7

The last major factor in the decline of the prolonged touch usage was a combination of reading a score too literally and losing the understood notational conventions for the technique. If the score is read in a very modern sense, only one of the three notations for the prolonged touch will likely be recognized, and by no means is that one way necessarily the most popular. This change in mentality, especially with regard to the this technique, can be seen already in Carl Engel’s The Pianist’s Handbook from 1853.

The next step in the progression is two another arrangements of Beethoven’s Septet Op. 20. One is by Johann Nepomuk Hummel from ca. 1825 for flute, violin, cello, and piano, and the other is by Czerny (n.d.) for solo piano. Both of these works still retain the idea of the prolonged touch since the left hand chords are still within the span of a normal hand. The notation is even more explicitly calling for the prolonged touch.