S for Sustain

The sustain pedal, usually the one on the right, is the most commonly used pedal in a modern piano. When pressed it sustains all the damped strings on the piano by moving the dampers away from the strings and allowing them to vibrate freely so all the notes being played will continue to sound until the pedal is released. Until the Romantic era of Chopin and Liszt it was considered a special effect, but in the 19th century it came to be regarded as an essential element of piano sound. Featuring Stephen Hough, Ivan Ilic and Kenneth Hamilton.

You can listen to S for Sustain online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

S for Sustain is an episode from Radio 3's Piano A to Z by BBC.

This episode is 8:58 long.

This episode was published on Oct 16, 2012.

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