Misplaced Pages

#630369

37-557: 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. 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 . Grove Music Online translates

74-402: A performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section , "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena". A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements

111-604: A triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a " lamentation ", 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

148-494: 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. The C ♯ 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. It manifests

185-556: A mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance". 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". In his book Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas , 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

222-446: A movement with almost the character of a funeral march" and "absurd". Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative or in line with their own interpretation of the work. 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

259-471: A unified cycle. The Op. 27 No. 1 sonata is laid out in four movements: However, the work is meant to be performed from beginning to end. The first movement is in five-part rondo form (also called a square tune ) instead of sonata form , unusual for Beethoven. The tempo is slow, interrupted by a fast medial section in the submediant , C major. The second movement is a scherzo and is in ternary form (the norm for scherzi). Beethoven specifically notates

296-406: A version of the piece, performed by Alan Wilder , as a B-side on their 1988 single Little 15 . The Beatles song Because is based upon the chord progression of Moonlight Sonata played in reverse. Psychedelic rock band Vanilla Fudge covered the piece (along with Fur Elise ) that is part of "Phase Two" on their 1968 album, The Beat Goes On . In July 1975, Dmitri Shostakovich quoted

333-484: A very powerful sound in spite of the predominance of piano (p) markings throughout. 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]"). The way this is accomplished (both on today's pianos and on those of Beethoven's day)

370-457: Is a relatively conventional minuet in triple time , with the first section of the minuet not repeated. It is a seeming moment of relative calm written in D ♭ major , the more easily notated enharmonic equivalent of C ♯ major , the parallel major of the main work's key, C ♯ minor. The slight majority of the movement is in piano (p) , but a handful of sforzandos (sfz) and fortepianos ( fp) helps to maintain

407-410: Is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast. While the ultimate harmonic goal of a tonal composition is the final tonic triad , there will also be many interior harmonic goals found within the piece, some of them tonic triads and some of them not. ...We use the term cadence to mean a harmonic goal, specifically the chords used at the goal. This music-related article

SECTION 10

#1732772513631

444-498: Is known of Beethoven's relationship with her. Grove Music Online translates the Italian title Sonata quasi una fantasia as "sonata in the manner of a fantasy ". While we cannot know precisely why Beethoven used this description for the two Op. 27 sonatas, several explanations are available. In the case of the present work (though not its companion), the entire sonata is played continuously without pauses between movements, in

481-642: 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." 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. 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

518-407: 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

555-444: 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." Donald Francis Tovey thought the title of Moonlight was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two. Carl Czerny , Beethoven's pupil, described the first movement as "a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds". Franz Liszt described

592-454: Is the blurring of the concept of each movement as an autonomous whole ... Instead, the "attacca" connections force attention on to the totality of the entire composition, with its transitions from movement to movement, and thus from one sharply defined affect to another. ... This is even more true when, as in [the present sonata], there is also a cyclic return of earlier material later in the sonata, which thus aims to integrate its movements into

629-421: 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

666-540: 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 ♯ 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. The second movement

703-476: The Italian title as " sonata in the manner of a fantasy ". "The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia ." 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 . This comes from

740-476: The appearance of a quotation from one movement within another (here, from the third movement within the fourth) is a form of freedom not ordinarily employed in classical sonatas. Several of these patterns are mentioned in Lewis Lockwood 's discussion of the aesthetics of Beethoven's " quasi una fantasia " works: The result of the " attacca " principle [i.e. performance of all movements without pause]

777-435: The chord C major, a Picardy third . The third movement is slow in tempo and features a lyrical, noble theme, set against an eighth note accompaniment (in the recapitulation , sixteenth notes). The movement does not conclude in its tonic key, but instead reaches a final cadenza (on the dominant seventh ) that leads directly to the finale. The movement is brief and thus might be heard by some listeners as an introduction to

SECTION 20

#1732772513631

814-458: 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

851-483: 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

888-437: The final movement rather than as an independent movement, as Jonathan Del Mar suggests. The finale is the most extended movement of the work. Charles Rosen notes, "With this movement, Beethoven began an experiment, to which he continued to return and develop through the years, of displacing some of the weight of the work from the opening movement to the finale". The work is in fast tempo and in sonata rondo form . After

925-416: The first movement. He wanted a prelude , an introduction, not a proposition". The sonata consists of three movements : The first movement, in C ♯ minor and alla breve , is written in modified sonata-allegro form . Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow 8 ". The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and

962-412: The first phrase to start in the second bar. The main theme consists of mostly quarter notes in parallel octaves. Inside the theme, the first 16 bars are repeated outside an 8-bar middle strain. When it returns following the trio section, the left hand plays staccato and the notes of the right hand part (still legato ) are offset half a beat later. The movement includes a brief coda and concludes on

999-492: 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 ♯ 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

1036-400: The manner of most fantasias. The movements are not in the usual order for a sonata: the opening movement is a slow movement and the scherzo and slow movement are in inverted order. The first movement is not in sonata form, as is true for most sonatas. As Kenneth Drake has pointed out, the movements are in extreme contrast with each other, a common trait of the sections of a fantasia. Lastly,

1073-497: The moonlight comparison, though the nickname may not have arisen until later. By the late 1830s, the name " Mondscheinsonate " was being used in German publications and "Moonlight Sonata" in English publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name. Many critics have objected to the subjective, romantic nature of the title "Moonlight", which has at times been called "a misleading approach to

1110-431: The movement's cheerful disposition. It is the shortest of the movements and has been called the "less popular" interlude between the first and third movements. Franz Liszt is said to have described the second movement as "a flower between two chasms". The stormy final movement (C ♯ minor), in sonata form and common time , is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in

1147-544: 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." Taken literally, "twenty years" would mean the nickname had to have started after Beethoven's death. In fact Rellstab made his comment about

Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-504: The original autograph copy is lost. The sonata was published separately from its more famous companion, Op. 27 No. 2 (the "Moonlight" Sonata), but at the same time, by Cappi in Vienna; the first advertisements for the work appeared 3 March 1802. Both Op. 27 sonatas were originally titled Sonata quasi una fantasia . The dedicatee of the work was (as was typical of the time) an aristocrat, Princess Josephine von Liechtenstein . Little

1221-439: The second B section, the main theme of the slow movement briefly returns, followed by a brief cadenza. There follows the final A section, marked Presto . A typical performance of the work lasts 15 minutes. Movement (music) A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form . While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately as stand-alone pieces,

1258-513: The second movement as "a flower between two abysses". 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

1295-581: The sonata's first movement in a story called 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 made no mention of Lake Lucerne, which seems to have been Lenz's own addition. Rellstab met Beethoven in 1825, making it theoretically possible for Beethoven to have known of

1332-493: 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 References Sources Piano Sonata No. 13 (Beethoven) Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major , Op. 27 No. 1, " Quasi una fantasia " , is a sonata composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1800–1801. Beethoven

1369-440: Was about 30 years old when he wrote the sonata. He had already made a name for himself in Vienna as pianist and composer and was beginning to explore alternatives to the classical-era compositional procedures that he had largely adhered to during the 18th century. The most famous works of his "middle period", often emphasizing heroism, were yet to come. Beethoven's sketches for the first, second, and final movements survive, but

#630369