Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
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. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi.[b] The name Moonlight Sonata (German: Mondscheinsonate) grew popular later, likely after Beethoven's death.
"Moonlight Sonata" redirects here. For other uses, see Moonlight Sonata (disambiguation).Piano Sonata No. 14
The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favourite even in his own day.[1] Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.[1]
Names[edit]
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.[2] Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as "sonata in the manner of a fantasy".[3] "The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia."[4]
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.[5][6] 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."[7][8] 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."[7][9] Rellstab made no mention of Lake Lucerne, which seems to have been Lenz's own addition. Rellstab met Beethoven in 1825,[10] 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[11] and "Moonlight Sonata" in English[12] publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name.[13]
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"[14] and "absurd".[15] Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative[16] or in line with their own interpretation of the work.[17] 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."[18] Donald Francis Tovey thought the title of Moonlight was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two.[19]
Carl Czerny, Beethoven's pupil, described the first movement as "a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds".[20]
Liszt described the second movement as "a flower between two abysses".[7]
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]"[29]). 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.
Influence[edit]
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.[32] 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♯ 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."[33]
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.[34]
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
References
Sources