Moonlit Musings on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
The Best Moments
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ("Moonlight")
I'm Beethoven, and these are the best moments of my Moonlight Sonata. You'll travel on one piano from a hushed, rocking opening through a gentle dance-like middle to a stormy finale, and it's worth your time because all that drama comes from two hands. On this site my fellow composers and I also teach you to recognize our pieces when they play, so give the Trainer a go and see how you do.
---
A Very Quiet Start
I open the first movement, the Adagio sostenuto, with a low octave in the left hand and a gentle rocking of triplets in the right, and I mark it to be played without dampers, which is a bit like asking the piano to keep talking after it should have stopped. The whole thing never gets louder than piano, so if you were hoping for fireworks, you'll have to wait politely in the dark with the rest of us.
A Flower Takes a Seat
I follow that gloom with the Allegretto in D flat major, a light, minuet-like movement in 3/4 that feels like someone opened a window in a very serious room. Liszt called it "a flower between two abysses", which is a lovely way of saying it's the cheerful guest at a rather gloomy dinner party, and I did include a Trio to keep the conversation going.
Someone Let the Storm In
I finish with the Presto agitato, back in C sharp minor, and here I take away the calm entirely, because it opens with fast arpeggios that rush up the keyboard like a person who has just remembered the oven is on. The pianist needs real stamina, since sudden accented notes keep breaking through the mostly quiet surface, and the poor soul at the keys never gets a moment to sit back and admire the view.
---
When I think back over these moments, what stays with me most is how much the sonata says while hardly raising its voice. It begins in hushed darkness, passes through a brief, graceful pause, and then breaks into a restless finale that finally lets the feeling out. The name "Moonlight" isn't mine, and it only arrived later, when the poet Ludwig Rellstab pictured a boat on Lake Lucerne under the moon. I find it rather touching that listeners have been sitting with that image ever since. Did you enjoy learning about the best moments of Moonlight Sonata? I hope you did, and I hope they've given you a few things to listen for the next time you hear it. There is still a lot more to discover in this sonata, from the way the three movements fit together to the story of the person I dedicated it to. If you'd like to keep exploring, please click on the links provided, and take your time with them. Then put on a recording, turn the lights down low, and let the music tell you the rest.