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{{short description|Piano sonata written by Beethoven in 1801}}{{Redirect|Moonlight Sonata|other uses}}{{pp-move|small=yes}}

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).}}| other_name = Moonlight SonataC-sharp minor>C{{music, flat}} major (second movement)| opus = 27/2Classical period (music)>Classical period| form = Piano sonata| composed = 1801| dedication = Countess Giulietta Guicciardi| published = 1802| publisher = Giovanni Cappi| duration = 15 minutes| movements = 3| misc = {{Audio sample }}{{Audio sample }}{{Audio sample }}}}The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie “Giulietta” Guicciardi.{{efn|1=This dedication was not Beethoven’s original intention, and he did not have Guicciardi in mind when writing the sonata. Thayer, in his Life of Beethoven, states that the work Beethoven originally intended to dedicate to Guicciardi was the Rondo in G, Op. 51 No. 2, but circumstances required that this be dedicated to Countess Lichnowsky. So he cast around at the last moment for a piece to dedicate to Guicciardi. See BOOK, Thayer’s Life of Beethoven, Alexander Wheelock, Thayer, Alexander Wheelock Thayer, Forbes, Elliot, Elliot Forbes, revised, 1921, 1967, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 291 and 297, 0-691-02702-1, registration,archive.org/details/thayerslifeofbee00thay, }} Although known throughout the world as the Moonlight Sonata (German: Mondscheinsonate), it was not Beethoven who so christened it. The name grew popular later, likely long after Beethoven’s death.The piece is one of Beethoven’s most famous compositions for the piano, and was quite popular even in his own day. Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata around the age of 30, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.

Names

The first edition of the score is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia (“sonata almost a fantasy“), the same title as that of its companion piece, Op. 27, No. 1.WEB,www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=&template=dokseite_digitales_archiv_en&_eid=&_ug=&_werkid=27&_dokid=T00011830&_opus=op.%2027&_mid=&suchparameter=&_sucheinstieg=&_seite=1, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate für Klavier (cis-Moll) op. 27, 2 (Sonata quasi una fantasia), Cappi, 879, Beethoven House, Beethovenhaus, January 12, 2012, Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as “sonata in the manner of a fantasy”.ENCYCLOPEDIA,www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/22660, Quasi, Grove Music Online, January 7, 2012, “The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia.“WEB, Schwarm, Betsy, Moonlight Sonata,www.britannica.com/topic/Moonlight-Sonata, Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 April 2018, Many sources say that the nickname Moonlight Sonata arose after the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne.BOOK, Beethoven, Ludwig van, Beethoven: The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words, 1st World Publishing, 2004, 47TITLE=BEETHOVEN ET SES TROIS STYLES VOLUME=1 PAGE=225 AUTHOR-LINK=WILHELM VON LENZ, This comes from the musicologist Wilhelm von Lenz, who wrote in 1852: “Rellstab compares this work to a boat, visiting, by moonlight, the remote parts of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. The soubriquet Mondscheinsonate, which twenty years ago made connoisseurs cry out in Germany, has no other origin.“HTTPS://CRUMEY.CO.UK/BEETHOVEN.HTML#MOONLIGHT > TITLE=BEETHOVEN BOOKSHELF, MACONIE >FIRST=ROBIN TITLE=MUSICOLOGIA: MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE FROM PLATO TO JOHN CAGE PUBLISHER=SCARECROW PRESS PAGES=279 Theodor that he published in 1824: “The lake reposes in twilit moon-shimmer [Mondenschimmer], muffled waves strike the dark shore; gloomy wooded mountains rise and close off the holy place from the world; ghostly swans glide with whispering rustles on the tide, and an Aeolian harp sends down mysterious tones of lovelorn yearning from the ruins.“RELLSTAB DATE=1824 URL=HTTPS://WWW.DIGITALE-SAMMLUNGEN.DE/EN/VIEW/BSB10528063?PAGE=292,293 LANGUAGE=DE Mondscheinsonate” was being used in German publicationsSee. e.g., Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger. Vol. 9, No. 11, Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1837, p. 41. and “Moonlight Sonata” in EnglishSee, e.g., Ignaz Moscheles, ed. The Life of Beethoven. Henry Colburn pub., vol. II, 1841, p. 109. publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name.Aunt Judy’s Christmas Volume. H. K. F. Gatty, ed., George Bell & Sons, London, 1879, p. 60.Many critics have objected to the subjective, romantic nature of the title “Moonlight”, which has at times been called “a misleading approach to a movement with almost the character of a funeral march“Kennedy, Michael. “Moonlight Sonata”, from Oxford Dictionary of Music 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006 rev., p. 589. and “absurd”.(wikisource:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Moonlight Sonata|“Moonlight Sonata”), from Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. J.A. Fuller Maitland, ed., Macmillan and Co., London, 1900, p. 360. Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocativeDubal, David. The Art of the Piano. Amadeus Press, 2004, p. 411. or in line with their own interpretation of the work.See, e.g., Wilkinson, Charles W. Well-known Piano Solos: How to Play Them. Theo. Presser Co., Philadelphia, 1915, p. 31. Gramophone founder Compton Mackenzie found the title “harmless”, remarking that “it is silly for austere critics to work themselves up into a state of almost hysterical rage with poor Rellstab”, and adding, “what these austere critics fail to grasp is that unless the general public had responded to the suggestion of moonlight in this music Rellstab’s remark would long ago have been forgotten.“Mackenzie, Compton. www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/August%201940/1/736783/EDITORIAL%23header-logo" title="archive.today/20120801073308www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/August%201940/1/736783/EDITORIAL%23header-logo">“The Beethoven Piano Sonatas”, from The Gramophone, Aug. 1940, p. 5. Donald Francis Tovey thought the title of Moonlight was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two.BOOK, Beethoven, Ludwig van,www.worldcat.org/oclc/53258888, Complete Pianoforte Sonatas, Volume II, 1932, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 978-1-85472-054-2, Tovey, Donald Francis, Donald Tovey, Revised, London, 50, en, 53258888, Ludwig van Beethoven, Craxton, Harold, Harold Craxton, Carl Czerny, Beethoven’s pupil, described the first movement as “a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds”.BOOK, Beethoven, Ludwig van, Sonata quasi una Fantasia für Pianoforte, Bärenreiter, 2015, Del Mar, Jonathan, Jonathan Del Mar, Kassel, iii, en, de, Schütz, Gudula, 979-0-006-55799-8, Donat, Misha, Franz Liszt described the second movement as “a flower between two abysses”.

Form

Although no direct testimony exists as to the specific reasons why Beethoven decided to title both the Op. 27 works as Sonata quasi una fantasia, it may be significant that the layout of the present work does not follow the traditional movement arrangement in the Classical period of fast–slow–[fast]–fast. Indeed, this sonata is considered one of the earliest pieces of the Romantic era. Instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement. In his analysis, German critic Paul Bekker states: “The opening sonata-allegro movement gave the work a definite character from the beginning ... which succeeding movements could supplement but not change. Beethoven rebelled against this determinative quality in the first movement. He wanted a prelude, an introduction, not a proposition”.Maynard Solomon, Beethoven (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), p. 139The sonata consists of three movements:{{Ordered list|type=upper-romanTempo#Basic tempo markings>Adagio sostenuto|AllegrettoTempo#Basic tempo markings>Presto agitato}}

I. Adagio sostenuto

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midi { }The first movement,{{Efn|Note that Beethoven wrote “senza sordino”; see #Beethoven’s pedal mark below.|name=pedal}} in C{{music|sharp}} minor and alla breve, is written in modified sonata-allegro form.BOOK, Harding, Henry Alfred, Analysis of form in Beethoven’s sonatas, 1901, Novello, Borough Green, 28–29,archive.org/details/cu31924017163027, Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid “taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow {{Music|time|12|8}}”.The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a “lamentation”,{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} mostly by the left hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. The movement is played pianissimo (pp) or “very quietly”, and the loudest it gets is piano (p) or “quietly”.The adagio sostenuto tempo has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz commented that it “is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify”. Beethoven’s student Carl Czerny called it “a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance”.Jones, Timothy. Beethoven, the Moonlight and other sonatas, op. 27 and op. 31. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 19, 43 and back cover. The movement was very popular in Beethoven’s day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked to Czerny, “Surely I’ve written better things”.Life of Beethoven, Alexander Wheelock Thayer, ed. Elliot Forbes, Princeton 1967WEB, Fishko, Sara,www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18577817, Why do we love the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata?, NPR.org, NPR, 10 May 2011, In his book Beethoven’s pianoforte sonatas,BOOK, Fischer, Edwin, Beethoven’s pianoforte sonatas: a guide for students & amateurs, Faber, 1959, 62, the renowned pianist Edwin Fischer suggests that this movement of this sonata is based on Mozart’s ”Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito” of his opera Don Giovanni, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. He claims to have found, in the archives of the Wiener Musikverein, a sketch in Beethoven’s handwriting of a few lines of Mozart’s music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) transposed to C{{music|sharp}} minor, the key of the sonata. “In any case, there is no romantic moon-light in this movement: it is rather a solemn dirge”, writes Fischer.

II. Allegretto

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midi { }The stormy final movement (C{{music|sharp}} minor), in sonata form and common time, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven’s (also carried out in the companion sonata Opus 27, No. 1 and later on in Opus 101), namely, placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast arpeggios/broken chords, strongly accented notes, and fast alberti bass sequences that fall both into the right and left hands at various times. An effective performance of this movement demands lively, skillful playing and great stamina, and is significantly more demanding technically than the 1st and 2nd movements.Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written “it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing”.Beethoven’s heavy use of sforzando (sfz) notes, together with just a few strategically located fortissimo (ff) passages, creates the sense of a very powerful sound in spite of the predominance of piano (p) markings throughout.(File:Manuscript of the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor Op.27-2 by Beethoven (trimmed).pdf|thumb|Autograph score; the first page has evidently been lost|upright=1.2)

Beethoven’s pedal mark

{{See also|Piano history and musical performance|Mute (music)|Piano pedals#Beethoven and pedals|Historically informed performance}}At the opening of the first movement, Beethoven included the following direction in Italian: “Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino” (“This whole piece ought to be played with the utmost delicacy and without damper[s]“Translation from {{harvnb|Rosenblum|1988|p=136}}). The way this is accomplished (both on today’s pianos and on those of Beethoven’s day) is to depress the sustain pedal throughout the movement – or at least to make use of the pedal throughout, but re-applying it as the harmony changes.The modern piano has a much longer sustain time than the instruments of Beethoven’s time, so that a steady application of the sustain pedal creates a dissonant sound. In contrast, performers who employ a historically based instrument (either a restored old piano or a modern instrument built on historical principles) are more able to follow Beethoven’s direction literally.For performance on the modern piano, several options have been put forth.

• One option is simply to change the sustain pedal periodically where necessary to avoid excessive dissonance. This is seen, for instance, in the editorially supplied pedal marks in the Ricordi edition of the sonata.William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music Beethoven, Sonate per pianoforte, Vol. 1 (N. 1–16), Ricordi
• Half pedaling—a technique involving a partial depression of the pedal—is also often used to simulate the shorter sustain of the early nineteenth century pedal. Charles Rosen suggested either half-pedaling or releasing the pedal a fraction of a second late.BOOK, Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion, Rosen, Charles, Charles Rosen, Yale University Press, 2002, 978-0-300-09070-3, 157,
• Joseph Banowetz suggests using the sostenuto pedal: the pianist should pedal cleanly while allowing sympathetic vibration of the low bass strings to provide the desired “blur”. This is accomplished by silently depressing the piano’s lowest bass notes before beginning the movement, then using the sostenuto pedal to hold these dampers up for the duration of the movement.Banowetz, J. (1985). The Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 168.

Influence

The C{{music|sharp}} minor sonata, particularly the third movement, is held to have been the inspiration for Frédéric Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu, and the Fantaisie-Impromptu to have been in fact a tribute to Beethoven.{{sfn|Oster|1983}} It manifests the key relationships of the sonata’s three movements, chord structures, and even shares some passages. Ernst Oster writes: “With the aid of the Fantaisie-Impromptu we can at least recognize what particular features of the C{{music|sharp}} minor Sonata struck fire in Chopin. We can actually regard Chopin as our teacher as he points to the coda and says, ‘Look here, this is great. Take heed of this example!’ ... The Fantaisie-Impromptu is perhaps the only instance where one genius discloses to us – if only by means of a composition of his own – what he actually hears in the work of another genius.“{{sfn|Oster|1983|p=207}}Carl Bohm composed a piece for violin and piano called “Meditation”, Op. 296, in which he adds a violin melody over the unaltered first movement of Beethoven’s sonata.IMSLP Carl Bohm, “Meditation”Modern popular music pianists have included core motifs of the piece in their adaptations. Examples include George Shearing, in his ‘Moonlight Becomes You,’ on his White Satin album and Alicia Keys’s ‘Remixed & Unplugged’ version of her Songs in A Minor album.Depeche Mode released a version of the piece, performed by Alan Wilder, as a B-side on their 1988 single Little 15.In July 1975, Dmitri Shostakovich quoted the sonata’s first movement in his Viola Sonata, op. 147, his last composition. The third movement, where the quotation takes fragmentary form, is actually called an “Adagio in memory of Beethoven”.

Notes and references

Notes{{notelist|45em}}References{{reflist|30em}}Sources

• BOOK, Rosenblum, Sandra P., 1988, Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications, Bloomington, Indiana University Press,
• BOOK, Oster, Ernst, Ernst Oster, The Fantaisie-Impromptu: A Tribute to Beethoven, Aspects of Schenkerian Analysis, David Beach, Yale University Press, 1983, 978-0-300-02800-3,
• BOOK, Siepmann, Jeremy, Jeremy Siepmann, 1998, The Piano: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World’s Most Popular Musical Instrument,

External links

{{Commons category|Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)}}

• BOOK, Harding, Henry Alfred, 1901, Analysis of Form in Beethoven’s Sonatas,archive.org/details/cu31924017163027/page/n35, Sonata No. 14, 28–29, Novello, Borough Green Sevenoaks, Kent, none, Internet Archive,
• classicalmusicblog.com/2007/09/beethoven-sonata.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20110904000411classicalmusicblog.com/2007/09/beethoven-sonata.html">Analysis and recordings review of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Roni’s Journal, September 2007, Classical Music Blog
• Lecture by András Schiff on Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 27, No. 2 – via The Guardian

Scores

• {{IMSLP|work=Piano Sonata No.14, Op.27/2 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname=Piano Sonata No. 14}}
• {{VHV|file=beethoven/sonatas/sonata14-1.krn|cname=Piano Sonata No. 14 in C{{music|}} major, Op. 27/2}}
• Ricordi edition, The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music

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