Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Pp-move Template:Infobox musical composition 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.Template:Efn Although known throughout the world as the Moonlight Sonata (German: Mondscheinsonate), it was not Beethoven who named it so. The title "Moonlight Sonata'" was proposed in 1832, after the author's death, by the poet Ludwig Rellstab.

The piece is one of Beethoven's most famous compositions for the piano, and was quite popular even in his own day.<ref name="Jones" /> 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.<ref name="Jones" />

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as "sonata in the manner of a fantasy".<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> "The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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."<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Maconie 2010 279">Template:Cite book</ref> Taken literally, "twenty years" would mean the nickname had to have started after Beethoven's death. In fact Rellstab made his comment about 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."<ref name=":2" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Rellstab made no mention of Lake Lucerne, which seems to have been Lenz's own addition. Rellstab met Beethoven in 1825,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> making it theoretically possible for Beethoven to have known of 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<ref>See. e.g., Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger. Vol. 9, No. 11, Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1837, p. 41.</ref> and "Moonlight Sonata" in English<ref>See, e.g., Ignaz Moscheles, ed. The Life of Beethoven. Henry Colburn pub., vol. II, 1841, p. 109.</ref> publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name.<ref>Aunt Judy's Christmas Volume. H. K. F. Gatty, ed., George Bell & Sons, London, 1879, p. 60.</ref>

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"<ref>Kennedy, Michael. "Moonlight Sonata", from Oxford Dictionary of Music 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006 rev., p. 589.</ref> and "absurd".<ref>"Moonlight Sonata", from Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. J.A. Fuller Maitland, ed., Macmillan and Co., London, 1900, p. 360.</ref> Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative<ref>Dubal, David. The Art of the Piano. Amadeus Press, 2004, p. 411.</ref> or in line with their own interpretation of the work.<ref>See, e.g., Wilkinson, Charles W. Well-known Piano Solos: How to Play Them. Theo. Presser Co., Philadelphia, 1915, p. 31.</ref> 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."<ref>Mackenzie, Compton. "The Beethoven Piano Sonatas", from The Gramophone, Aug. 1940, p. 5.</ref> Donald Francis Tovey thought the title of Moonlight was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>

Carl Czerny, Beethoven's pupil, described the first movement as "a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds".<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Franz Liszt described the second movement as "a flower between two abysses".<ref name=":2"/>

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.<ref name="Maconie 2010 279"/> 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".<ref>Maynard Solomon, Beethoven (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), p. 139</ref>

The sonata consists of three movements:

I. Adagio sostenuto

<score sound="1">

\unfoldRepeats \new PianoStaff <<

 \new Staff = "right" \with {
   midiInstrument = "acoustic grand"
 } \relative c' { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Adagio sostenuto" 4 = 52
     \key cis \minor
     \time 2/2
     \stemNeutral
   \tuplet 3/2 { gis8^"Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" cis e }
     \override TupletNumber.stencil = ##f
     \repeat unfold 7 { \tuplet 3/2 { gis,8[ cis e] } } |
   \tuplet 3/2 { a,8[( cis e] } \tuplet 3/2 { a, cis e) } \tuplet 3/2 { a,8[( d! fis] } \tuplet 3/2 { a, d fis) } |
   \tuplet 3/2 { gis,([ bis fis'] } \tuplet 3/2 { gis, cis e } \tuplet 3/2 { gis,[ cis dis!] } \tuplet 3/2 { fis, bis dis) } |
 }
 \new Staff = "left" \with {
   midiInstrument = "acoustic grand"
 } {
   \clef bass \relative c' {
     \override TextScript #'whiteout = ##t
     \key cis \minor
     \time 2/2
     <cis,, cis'>1^\markup \italic { sempre \dynamic pp e senza sordino } \noBreak
      \noBreak
     <a a'>2 <fis fis'> \noBreak
     <gis gis'> <gis gis'> \noBreak
   }
 }

>> \midi { } </score> The first movement,Template:Efn in [[C-sharp minor|CTemplate:Music minor]] and alla breve, is written in modified sonata-allegro form.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow Template:Music".<ref name=":1" />

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",Template:Citation needed 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".<ref name="Rosen"/> Beethoven's student Carl Czerny called it "a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance".<ref name=Jones>Jones, Timothy. Beethoven, the Moonlight and other sonatas, op. 27 and op. 31. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 19, 43 and back cover.</ref> 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".<ref>Life of Beethoven, Alexander Wheelock Thayer, ed. Elliot Forbes, Princeton 1967</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In his book Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 CTemplate:Music 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

<score sound="1">

\new PianoStaff <<

 \new Staff = "right" \with {
   midiInstrument = "acoustic grand"
 } \relative c { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
   \tempo \markup {
    \column {
     \line { Allegretto. }
     \line \tiny { La prima parte senza repetizione. }
    }
   } 4 = 180
   \key des \major
   \numericTimeSignature
   \time 3/4
   \partial 4
   <aes des>4(\p
   <aes c>2 <g bes>4
   <aes ees'>)-. r <f des'>-.
   <aes c>-. r <g bes>-.
   aes-. r <des ges>(
   <des f>2 <c ees>4
   <des aes'>)-. r <bes ges'>-.
   <des f>-. r <c ees>-.
   des-. r
 }
 \new Staff = "left" \with {
   midiInstrument = "acoustic grand"
 } {
   \clef bass \relative c' {
     \key des \major
     \numericTimeSignature
     \time 3/4
     \partial 4
     \tempo "Allegretto."
     f4(
     ees2 des4
     c)-. r <des, bes'>-.
     <ees ees'>-. r <ees des'>-.
     <aes c>-.r \clef treble bes'(
     aes2 ges4
     f)-. r \clef bass <ges, ees'>-.
     <aes aes'>-. r <aes ges'>-.
     <des f>-. r
   }
 }

>> \midi { } </score> The second movement 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-flat major|DTemplate:Music major]], the more easily notated enharmonic equivalent of [[C-sharp major|CTemplate:Music major]], the parallel major of the main work's key, CTemplate:Music minor. The slight majority of the movement is in piano (p), but a handful of sforzandos (sfz) and fortepianos (fp) helps to maintain 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.<ref>DONALDSON, BRYNA. "Beethoven's Moonlight Fantasy." American Music Teacher, vol. 20, no. 4, 1971, pp. 32–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43533985. Accessed 20 Oct. 2023.</ref> Franz Liszt is said to have described the second movement as "a flower between two chasms".<ref>Brendel, Alfred (2001). Alfred Brendel on music. A Capella Books. p. 71. Template:ISBN.</ref>

III. Presto agitato

<score sound="1" lang="lilypond">

\new PianoStaff <<

 \new Staff = "right" \with {
   midiInstrument = "acoustic grand"
 } \relative c { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Presto agitato" 4=160
 
   \key cis \minor
   \time 4/4
   %1
     s2\p cis,16 e, \[ gis cis e gis, cis e \] \bar ".|:" 
     gis cis, e gis cis e, \[ gis cis e gis, cis e \] <gis, cis e gis>8\sfz-. <gis cis e gis>-.
   %2
     s2. dis16 gis, bis dis
   %3    
     gis bis, dis gis bis dis, gis bis dis gis, bis dis <gis, bis dis gis>8-.\sfz <gis bis dis gis>-.
 }
 \new Staff = "left" \with {
   midiInstrument = "acoustic grand"
 } {
   \clef bass \relative c' {
     \key cis \minor
     \time 4/4
     \tempo "Presto agitato." 
     % impossible d'afficher le premier ! 
     %1
       << { \[ r16 gis,16 cis e \] gis16 cis, e gis s2 } \\ { cis,,8-. gis'-.  cis,-. gis'-. cis,-. gis'-. cis,-. gis'-.}>> \stemDown \bar ".|:"
     %2
       cis, gis' cis, gis' cis, gis' <cis, cis'>\sfz gis'
     %3
       <<{r16 gis bis dis gis bis, dis gis bis dis, gis bis s4}\\{bis,,8 gis' bis, gis' bis, gis' bis, gis'}>>
       bis, gis' bis, gis' bis, gis' <bis, bis'>\sfz gis'
   }
 }

>> \midi { } </score> The stormy final movement (CTemplate:Music 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".<ref name="Rosen" />

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

Autograph score; the first page has evidently been lost

Beethoven's pedal mark

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]"<ref>Translation from Template:Harvnb</ref>). 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.<ref>William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music Beethoven, Sonate per pianoforte, Vol. 1 (N. 1–16), Ricordi</ref>
• 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.<ref name="Rosen">Template:Cite book</ref>
• 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.<ref name="Banowetz">Banowetz, J. (1985). The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 168.</ref>

Influence on later composers

The CTemplate:Music 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.Template:Sfn 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 CTemplate:Music 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."Template:Sfn

Carl Bohm's "Meditation", Op. 296, for violin and piano, adds a violin melody over the unaltered first movement of Beethoven's sonata.<ref>IMSLP Carl Bohm, "Meditation"</ref>

Dmitri Shostakovich quoted the sonata's first movement in his Viola Sonata, op. 147 (1975), his last composition. The third movement, where the quotation takes fragmentary form, is called an "Adagio in memory of Beethoven".

Notes and references

Notes Template:Notelist

References Template:Reflist

Sources

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Cite book
• 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

• Template:IMSLP
• Template:VHV
• Ricordi edition, The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music