Sempre una corda

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the piano staff, often at the start of a soft passage, to confirm that the soft pedal stays down throughout; it lasts until tre corde or tutte le corde.

How Composers Use It

Sempre una corda reminds the pianist not to release the soft pedal at a crescendo or a change of phrase; the muted colour should persist. Una corda changes timbre more than volume, so mark the dynamics as well, and cancel the pedal explicitly when the section ends.

Example

Liszt, “Pace non trovo”, 3 Sonetti di Petrarca, piano, m. 56: “sempre una corda” at p, with “a tempo, quasi Allegro” and “tremolando” in the same bar.

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