Con due pedali

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the piano staff where both the sustaining and soft pedals are to be used; it lasts until one of them is released (tre corde, or a pedal-release sign).

Also spelled: con due Pedale

How Composers Use It

Both pedals together give a veiled, blurred resonance: the una corda softens the attack while the sustaining pedal lets the sound ring. Use it for distant, misty effects at soft dynamics. Keep marking the sustaining-pedal changes with the usual signs; con due pedali only says both pedals are in play.

Example

Beach, “Take, O Take those Lips Away”, 3 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 37, piano, m. 25: “con due Pedale”, with “dolce marcato” in the same bar.

Related Terms