# Beethoven - 'Moonlight' Sonata



## Roni22

Beethoven's "Moonlight sonata", a name coined by German music critic Ludwig Rellstab after Beethoven's death, is one of the most widely known classical music pieces, and has been since it was composed some 200 years ago.

But let us examine it more closely and look at the facts surrounding the piece, find past and future musical connections and, of course, compare and choose the best recordings of the sonata.

Read on: detailed analysis of Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata, and a comprehensive recordings review, all with audio examples.


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## ChamberNut

Roni,

Thanks for posting this. Interesting!  

I have the Barenboim recordings of the Beethoven Sonatas.


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## Roni22

Thank you!

Do leave comments on the blog itself. Thanks


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## Manuel

Great work Roni22! I don't have much time know, but I've already bookmarked your blog to read it carefully in the next days (a Microeconomic Analysis exam is consuming all my resources at the moment).

About the first movement, its bass-line and upper range motiv. Do you know Edwin Fischer said the it is actually a quote from the scene in which the Comendatore dies in Don Giovanni? He made profound studies on the Beethoven sonatas and seemed very conclusive in this particular idea.
András Schiff also defends this idea, of course.


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## Roni22

Manuel said:


> About the first movement, its bass-line and upper range motiv. Do you know Edwin Fischer said the it is actually a quote from the scene in which the Comendatore dies in Don Giovanni? He made profound studies on the Beethoven sonatas and seemed very conclusive in this particular idea.
> András Schiff also defends this idea, of course.


Thanks, Manuel.

I would disagree: the Commendatore aria does indeed begin with a Phrygian progression, but unlike the opening bars of the sonata, it does not divert to the sub-dominant.

Also, the mood in the sonata is nothing like in Don Giovanni. It seems to be looking back much farther - into the Baroque era.


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## Roni22

For those looking to listen to the aria mentioned above, here is a hair-raising video excerpt of it.


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## Manuel

Roni22 said:


> Thanks, Manuel.
> 
> I would disagree: the Commendatore aria does indeed begin with a Phrygian progression, but unlike the opening bars of the sonata, it does not divert to the sub-dominant.
> 
> Also, the mood in the sonata is nothing like in Don Giovanni. It seems to be looking back much farther - into the Baroque era.


It was Fischer's idea that this Adagio sostenuto is therefore a funeral march.


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## Roni22

Manuel said:


> It was Fischer's idea that this Adagio sostenuto is therefore a funeral march.


Well, it's more a prelude than anything else. After all, the culmination is in the third movement, and the first movement has quite a few predicting moments, including the flattened supertonic in the second bar, the diminished seventh arpeggios in the pedal point before the recap, etc.


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## Manuel

Roni22 said:


> including the flattened supertonic in the second bar, the diminished seventh arpeggios in the pedal point before the recap, etc.


Do you also relate to music just as _enjoyment_? (I.e.: whistling the Scherzo from Prok's fifth symphony at the bus stop, making funny faces when you reach the basoon line*). Or you are always quirurgical as with this Sonata.

*Does anyone else think it is inevitable to make a funny face when whistling or humming the basoon exposition from an orchestral piece?


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## Roni22

Of course. Music is an art. Art is for enjoying it, feeling the emotions it conveys, accomplish the feats it drives us to achieve, no?


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## Manuel

András Schiff _lectured us_ on this Sonata at Wigmore Hall last year.

http://download.guardian.co.uk/sys-audio/Arts/Culture/2006/11/22/03_14CSharpMin.mp3


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## Manuel

Here's a summary with links to the weekly introduction notes on the Guardian Unlimited Arts Blog pages:

Week 1 - The Early Sonatas (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/11/schiff_on_beethoven.html)
(1) Piano Sonata in F minor, opus 2 no. 1
(2) Piano Sonata in A major, opus 2 no. 2
(3) Piano Sonata in C major, opus 2 no. 3
(4) Piano Sonata in E-flat major, opus 7

Week 2 - Trio Sonatas from Op. 10 & Pathetique (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/11/schiff_on_beethoven_part_2.html)
(1) Piano Sonata in C minor, opus 10 no. 1
(2) Piano Sonata in F major, opus 10 no. 2
(3) Piano Sonata in D major, opus 10 no. 3
(4) Piano Sonata in C minor, "Pathétique", opus 13

Week 3 - Five Sonatas (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/11/schiff_on_beethoven_part_3.html)
(1) Piano Sonata in G minor, opus 49 no. 1
(2) Piano Sonata in G major, opus 49 no. 2
(3) Piano Sonata in E major, opus 14 no. 1
(4) Piano Sonata in G major, opus 14 no. 2
(5) Piano Sonata in B-flat major, opus 22

Week 4 - Working Toward "Pastoral" (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/11/schiff_on_beethoven_part_4.html)
(1) Piano sonata in A-flat major, opus 26
(2) Piano sonata in E-flat major, opus 27 no. 1
(3) Piano sonata in C-sharp minor, opus 27 no. 2 ('Moonlight')
(4) Piano Sonata in in D major, opus 28 ('Pastoral')

Week 5 - "Waldstein" (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/11/schiff_on_beethoven_part_5.html)
(1) Piano sonata in G major, opus 31 no. 1
(2) Piano sonata in D minor, opus 31 no. 2 ("Tempest")
(3) Piano sonata in E flat major, opus 31 no. 3
(4) Piano sonata in C major, opus 53 ("Waldstein")

Week 6 - "Apassionata" and others (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/12/schiff_on_beethoven_part_six.html)
(1) Piano sonata in F major, opus 54
(2) Piano sonata in F minor, opus 57 ("Apassionata")
(3) Piano sonata in F sharp major, opus 78
(4) Piano sonata in G major, opus 79 ("Cuckoo")
(5) Piano sonata in E flat, opus 81a ("Les Adieux")

Week 7 - "Hammerklavier" and others (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/12/schiff_on_beethoven_part_seven.html)
(1) Piano sonata in E minor, opus 90, no. 27
(2) Piano sonata in A major, opus 101, no. 28
(3) Piano sonata in B flat major, opus 106 ("Hammerklavier")
(4) Piano sonata in B flat major, opus 106 ("Hammerklavier") cont'd

Week 8 - The Final Works (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/12/schiff_on_beethoven_final_part.html)
(1) Piano sonata in E major, opus 109
(2) Piano sonata in A flat major, opus 110
(3) Piano sonata in C minor, opus 111


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## Manuel

Roni22 said:


> For those looking to listen to the aria mentioned above, here is a hair-raising video excerpt of it.


But the Commendatore is already dead in that scene. That's not the part I pointed out a few posts before.


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## Roni22

Manuel said:


> But the Commendatore is already dead in that scene. That's not the part I pointed out a few posts before.


Sorry, I thought you meant those.

With regard to Andras Schiff - what a great pianist to give such an awful lecture.

But thank you for the link.


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## Manuel

Roni22 said:


> Sorry, I thought you meant those.
> 
> With regard to Andras Schiff - what a great pianist to give such an awful lecture.


Really? I find them to very interesting, as well as constructive.

Did you expect them to be more clinical?

Perhaps he does little to disect the work?

I notice your blog doesn't mention Josef Hoffman. His Moonlight is one of those I like most.

I uploaded it a few weeks ago for a friend in the USA. Here is the Rapidshare link

http://rapidshare.com/files/46542649/Hoffman.rar


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## Roni22

Manuel said:


> Did you expect them to be more clinical?
> 
> Perhaps he does little to disect the work?


No, on the contrary. He goes into the "taste" territory and provides his own views as factual information.

Some analysis is always constructive. But, as you may have noticed, I always try to be very dry in mine, and at the same time connected with the music. Vagueness and taste are and should remain personal, and on a personal level.



Manuel said:


> I notice your blog doesn't mention Josef Hoffman. His Moonlight is one of those I like most.


I find Hofmann's Moonlight recording absolutely terrible, sorry. If you look through my review of the recordings along with the justifications, you'll see why Józef Hofmann has no place in the comparison.


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## Manuel

Roni22 said:


> I always try to be very dry in mine,


I might have already discovered that.



Roni22 said:


> I find Hofmann's Moonlight recording absolutely terrible, sorry. If you look through my review of the recordings along with the justifications, you'll see why Józef Hofmann has no place in the comparison.


Really? For me he was an absolute poet at the keyboard. In his hands the work is alive and breathes with him.


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## jjfan

Roni,

Just want to say great site "http://classicalmusicblog.com/". I'm learning more about the music and playing of the music because of your blog (Moonlight Sonata and Paganini Violin Concerto No.1). Please continue writing more on your blog. Maybe you could tackle Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, next time. Or even Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto. =)

Regards,
Troy


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## atsizat

Is it only me who finds Moonlight Sonata depressing?

Somebody just insulted me today for saying that Moonlight Sonata is depressing.

I find Moonlight Sonata pretty depressing myself. Am I alone?

Edit: 

I meant the first movement.


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## bharbeke

I can see it being depressing in certain parts, especially if the pianist is taking it at a slower than average tempo. I have a hard time hearing anything depressing in the second and third movements.


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## atsizat

bharbeke said:


> I can see it being depressing in certain parts, especially if the pianist is taking it at a slower than average tempo. I have a hard time hearing anything depressing in the second and third movements.


I meant the first movement.


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## premont

atsizat said:


> Is it only me who finds Moonlight Sonata depressin
> 
> I meant the first movement.


You are not alone. I have always considered the tragic mood of the first movement to represent some kind of funeral music.


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## SnakeGnim12333

Fun fact: Beethoven's moonlight sonata is op 27 no 2...which corresponds to the same number as Chopin's nocturne in d-flat major, op 27 no 2! Interestingly, chopin's op 27 no 2 is a personal favorite nocturne of some professional pianists and is considered by some to be extremely mystifying and confusingly beautiful, and it should be in the same tier of fame as op 9 no 2.


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