Organ pedal

As Printed on a Score

Printed as Organ Pedal or Pedal above the lowest organ staff, where the line is played on the pedalboard; it holds for the passage or until manuals are named.

How Composers Use It

The pedal division supplies the bass, usually at 16-foot pitch, giving the organ its weight. In orchestral scores a held organ pedal can underpin a texture with a sound no other instrument sustains as steadily. Indicate the registration (16 ft, 32 ft) when the depth matters.

Example

Holst, The Planets, “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age”, organ, m. 1: “Organ Pedal” is printed in the movement’s first bar, under the opening Adagio.

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