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According to this page, harp pedals are notated as

D C B E F G A.

In the score for Holst's Planets - 7. Neptune, the order

Cb D# Eb G# Ab B F#

was used. Is there a specific reason for this non-standard notation?

Andy Bonner
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Karlo
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    I'm very interested to hear from someone who knows (I don't, even though my daughter is learning harp!). I wonder, in particular, whether scordatura is involved? It's striking that three pairs of enharmonic equivalents are used, D#/Eb, G#/Ab, and Cb/B (note, you might want to edit your question to show this). The opening notes show why: the harpist alternates between two chords that are enharmonically equivalent, G# B D# and Ab Cb Eb, giving the effect of a rapid tremolo on a single pitch. I wonder whether they have to deviate from the standard tuning to accomplish this? Not sure. – Andy Bonner Feb 08 '22 at 15:30
  • Only thing I can think of is a different kind of harp might have been used. Or maybe a translation/transcription error? – Todd Wilcox Feb 08 '22 at 15:49
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    This may be a age related thing. Your first link refers to a recently written document but that score is about a hundred years old. Your first document also insists that the pedal markings are NEVER in the middle of the staves - but look where they are in the score. – JimM Feb 08 '22 at 17:39
  • I think your question is clear when looking at this specific page http://harpnotation.com/the-harp/pedal-mechanism/pedal-diagrams/ – Michael Curtis Feb 08 '22 at 19:07
  • @JimM Pedal marks go above or below the grand staff in the part, but inside the grand staff (or even omitted entirely) in the full score to be more space efficient. – Todd Wilcox Feb 08 '22 at 21:04
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    I think it's worth noting that the pedal order is not consistent throughout the piece. – Elements in Space Feb 09 '22 at 00:59
  • @ToddWilcox — the pedal marks are appearing inside the grand staff _even in the part_ for this piece. – Elements in Space Feb 09 '22 at 01:22
  • @ElementsinSpace You're right. But what's strange is it's **only** for "Neptune", not for any of the other sections. The one thought is that it's a pocket score. I have a couple small format study scores and even the parts are small. Perhaps they needed to save space in both the full score and the parts. Also, perhaps the order of the pedals wasn't standardized in 1921 the way it is today. – Todd Wilcox Feb 09 '22 at 01:42

1 Answers1

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This is from my Walter Piston Orchestration book...

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...the pedal notation can be given as scale degrees, letters grouped by the left/right pedal positions, or graphically as black marks on, above, or below a line.

Looks like Holst opted for the scale ordering.

Michael Curtis
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    How does that account for the F being last? – Todd Wilcox Feb 08 '22 at 19:19
  • I edited my answer to take out the "alphabetical/scale order", that was my wording, not Piston's. The F being last doesn't really matter, the pedaling is clear: set F to sharp. The letter order is odd, but you can still see the settings. – Michael Curtis Feb 08 '22 at 20:06
  • My read of the question is that it’s asking *why* the pedal order is odd. This doesn’t seem to be a complete reason why, because it doesn’t offer an explanation for why the F is listed last. – Todd Wilcox Feb 08 '22 at 21:01
  • Yeah, I get that. But maybe there isn't a reason. If there isn't a requirement to indicate pedals in the first place, if given, why assume they must be in a particular order? – Michael Curtis Feb 08 '22 at 21:27
  • Holst found he'd missed the F setting and so put it at the end, and his editor didn't notice? – Peter Mar 14 '22 at 16:17