Piano Sonata No. 14 ( Beethoven ) - wikipedia Piano Sonata No. 14 ( Beethoven ) `` Moonlight Sonata '' redirects here. For other uses, see Moonlight Sonata ( disambiguation ). Title page of the first edition of the score, published in 1802 in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi e Comp. 1st movement ( 6 : 00 ) 2nd movement ( 2 : 05 ) 3rd movement ( 6 : 55 ) Created in MIDI and recorded from a digital piano Problems playing these files ? See media help. The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C ♯ minor `` Quasi una fantasia '', Op. 27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. This piece is one of Beethoven 's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day. 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. Contents 1 Names 2 Form 2.1 Adagio sostenuto 2.2 Allegretto 2.3 Presto agitato 3 Beethoven 's pedal mark 4 Influences 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External links 7.1 Scores Names The first edition of the score is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia, a title this work shares with its companion piece, Op. 27, No. 1. Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as `` sonata in the manner of a fantasy ''. Translated more literally, this is `` sonata almost a fantasy ''. The name `` Moonlight Sonata '' comes from remarks made by the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab. In 1832, five years after Beethoven 's death, Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne. Within ten years, the name `` Moonlight Sonata '' ( `` Mondscheinsonate '' in German ) was being used in German and 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 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 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. '' Form Autograph score ; the first page has evidently been lost. Click on image to examine all pages. 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. 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. '' The sonata consists of three movements : Adagio sostenuto Allegretto Presto agitato Adagio sostenuto The first movement, in C ♯ minor, is written in an approximate truncated sonata form, especially considering the `` introduction '' function of mm. 1 -- 5. 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 '', mostly by the right hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. The movement is played pianissimo or `` very quietly '', and the loudest it gets is piano or `` quietly ''. 1st movement ( Adagio sostenuto ) Performed by Paul Pitman for Musopen ( 6 : 03 ) Problems playing this file ? See media help. The adagio sostenuto has made a powerful impression on many listeners ; for instance, Berlioz said of it 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 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. '' Allegretto 2nd movement ( Allegretto ) Performed by Paul Pitman for Musopen. ( 2 : 12 ) Problems playing this file ? See media help. The second movement is a relatively conventional scherzo and trio, a moment of relative calm written in D ♭ major, the more easily notated enharmonic equivalent of C ♯ major, the parallel major of the first movement 's key, C ♯ minor. Franz Liszt is said to have described the second movement as `` a flower between two chasms ''. The slight majority of the movement is in piano, but a handful of sforzandos and forte - pianos helps to maintain the movement 's cheerful disposition. Presto agitato The stormy final movement ( C ♯ minor ), in sonata form, 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 and strongly accented notes, and an effective performance demands lively and skillful playing. 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 notes, together with just a few strategically located fortissimo passages, creates the sense of a very powerful sound in spite of the predominance of piano markings throughout. Beethoven 's pedal mark See also : Piano history and musical performance, Mute ( music ), Piano pedals § Beethoven and pedals, and Historically informed performance At the opening of the work, 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 ) is to depress the damper pedal throughout the movement - or at least to make use of the damper pedal throughout, but changing the pedal as the harmony changes. Performers often hesitate to follow Beethoven 's direction, particularly when playing on a modern piano. This is because the modern piano has a much longer sustain time than the instruments of Beethoven 's time, so that a steady application of the damper 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 ) tend to be more willing 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 damper 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. Half pedaling -- a technique involving a partial depression of the damper pedal -- is also often used to simulate the shorter sustain of the early nineteenth century pedal. Charles Rosen suggested both half - pedaling and releasing the pedal a fraction of a second late. 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. Influences The C ♯ minor sonata, particularly the third movement, is held to have been the inspiration for Frédéric Chopin 's Fantaisie - Impromptu, and that the Fantaisie - Impromptu was actually a tribute to Beethoven. 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. '' References Jump up ^ The title page is in Italian, and reads SONATA quasi una FANTASIA per il Clavicembalo o Piano = forte composta e dedicata alla Damigella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi da Luigi van Beethoven Opera 27 No. 2. In Vienna presso Gio. Cappi Sulla Piazza di St. Michele No. 5. ( In English, `` Sonata, almost a fantasia for harpsichord or pianoforte. Composed, and dedicated to Mademoiselle Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Opus 27 No. 2. Published in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi, Michaelerplatz No. 5. '' ) The suggestion that the work could be performed on the harpsichord reflected a common marketing practice of music publishers in the early 19th century ( Siepmann 1998, 60 ). Jump up ^ This dedication was not Beethoven 's original intention, and he did not have Guicciardi in mind when writing the Moonlight Sonata. Thayer, in his Life of Beethoven, states that the work Beethoven originally intended to dedicate to Guicciardi was the Rondo in G, Op. 51 No. 2, but circumstances required that this be dedicated to Countess Lichnowsky. So he cast around at the last moment for a piece to dedicate to Guicciardi. See Thayer, Alexander Wheelock ( 1921 ). Elliot, Forbes, ed. Thayer 's Life of Beethoven ( revised ed. ). Princeton : Princeton University Press ( published 1967 ). p. 291 and p. 297. ISBN 0 - 691 - 02702 - 1. ^ Jump up to : Jones, Timothy. Beethoven, the Moonlight and other sonatas, op. 27 and op. 31. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 19, 43 and back cover. Jump up ^ `` Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate für Klavier ( cis - Moll ) op. 27, 2 ( Sonata quasi una fantasia ), Cappi, 879 ''. Beethovenhaus. Retrieved January 12, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Quasi ''. Grove Music Online ( Oxford Music Online ). Retrieved January 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Beethoven, Ludwig van ( 2004 ). Beethoven : The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words. 1st World Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978 - 1 - 59540 - 149 - 6. Jump up ^ See. e.g., Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger. Vol. 9, No. 11, Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1837, p. 41. Jump up ^ See, e.g., Ignace Moscheles, ed. The Life of Beethoven. Henry Colburn pub., vol. II, 1841, p. 109. Jump up ^ Aunt Judy 's Christmas Volume. H.K.F. Gatty, ed., George Bell & Sons, London, 1879, p. 60. Jump up ^ Kennedy, Michael. `` Moonlight Sonata '', from Oxford Dictionary of Music 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006 rev., p. 589. Jump up ^ `` Moonlight Sonata '', from Grove 's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. J.A. Fuller Maitland, ed., Macmillan and Co., London, 1900, p. 360. Jump up ^ Dubal, David. The Art of the Piano. Amadeus Press, 2004, p. 411. Jump up ^ See, e.g., Wilkinson, Charles W. Well - known Piano Solos : How to Play Them. Theo. Presser Co., Philadelphia, 1915, p. 31. Jump up ^ Mackenzie, Compton. `` The Beethoven Piano Sonatas '', from The Gramophone, Aug. 1940, p. 5. Jump up ^ Maynard Solomon, Beethoven ( New York : Schirmer Books, 1998 ), p. 139 Jump up ^ Note that Beethoven wrote `` senza sordino '' ; see # Beethoven 's pedal mark above. Jump up ^ Marie, George ( 21 February 2016 ). `` An Interpretive Guide to the Moonlight Sonata ''. The Beethoven Piano Project. ^ Jump up to : Charles Rosen ( 2002 ). Beethoven 's Piano Sonatas : A Short Companion. Yale University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 300 - 09070 - 3. Jump up ^ Life of Beethoven, Alexander Wheelock Thayer, ed. Elliot Forbes, Princeton 1967 Jump up ^ Fishko, Sara. `` Why do we love the ' Moonlight ' Sonata ? ''. NPR. Retrieved 10 May 2011. Jump up ^ Brendel, Alfred ( 2001 ). Alfred Brendel on music. A Capella Books. p. 71. ISBN 1 - 55652 - 408 - 0. Jump up ^ Translation from Rosenblum ( 1988, 136 ) Jump up ^ William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music Beethoven, Sonate per pianoforte, Vol. 1 ( N. 1 -- 16 ), Ricordi Jump up ^ Banowetz, J. ( 1985 ). The Pianist 's Guide to Pedaling, Bloomington : Indiana University Press, p. 168. Jump up ^ Oster, Ernst, `` The Fantaisie - Impromptu A Tribute to Beethoven '', Aspects of Schenkerian Analysis, David Beach, ed. Yale University Press, 1983 ISBN 0 - 300 - 02800 - 8 Jump up ^ Oster p. 207 Bibliography Rosenblum, Sandra P. ( 1988 ). Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music : Their Principles and Applications. Bloomington : Indiana University Press. Siepmann, Jeremy ( 1998 ). The Piano : The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World 's Most Popular Musical Instrument. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piano Sonata No. 14 ( Beethoven ). Detailed analysis and recordings review of Beethoven 's Moonlight Sonata 1st movement for piano and orchestra on YouTube, arranged by Georgii Cherkin Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C - sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, performed by Artur Schnabel Lecture and performance of the work on YouTube by András Schiff Recording of `` Moonlight Sonata '' No. 14 in C - sharp minor, published by 1stpiano.com Third movement on YouTube by Wilhelm Kempff Scores Free sheet music of Moonlight Sonata from Cantorion.org Piano Sonata No. 14 : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project ( IMSLP ) Ricordi edition, The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music Sonata No. 14 at the Mutopia Project Piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven Nos. 1 -- 10 ( Opp. 2 -- 14 ) No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1 No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2 No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3 No. 4 in E ♭ major, Op. 7 ( Grand Sonata ) No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1 No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2 No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3 No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ( Pathétique ) No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1 No. 10 in G major, Op. 14, No. 2 Nos. 11 -- 20 ( Opp. 22 -- 49 ) No. 11 in B ♭ major, Op. 22 No. 12 in A ♭ major, Op. 26 ( Funeral March ) No. 13 in E ♭ major, Op. 27, No. 1 No. 14 in C ♯ minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ( Moonlight ) No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ( Pastoral ) No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1 No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 ( The Tempest ) No. 18 in E ♭ major, Op. 31, No. 3 ( The Hunt ) No. 19 in G minor and No. 20 in G major, Op. 49 Nos. 21 -- 32 ( Opp. 53 -- 111 ) No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ( Waldstein ) No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ( Appassionata ) No. 24 in F ♯ major, Op. 78 ( À Thérèse ) No. 25 in G major, Op. 79 No. 26 in E ♭ major, Op. 81a ( Les adieux ) No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 No. 29 in B ♭ major, Op. 106 ( Hammerklavier ) No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 No. 31 in A ♭ major, Op. 110 No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 Unnumbered ( WoO ) Three Piano Sonatas, WoO 47 Piano Sonata in C major, WoO. 51 ( fragmentary work ) Spurious / doubtful ( Anh. ) Sonatina in G major, Anh. 5, No. 1 Sonatina in F major, Anh. 5, No. 2 Classical music portal VIAF : 184686463 LCCN : n82028186 GND : 300016670 SELIBR : 300172 BNF : cb13908188k ( data ) NLA : 35473249 BNE : XX2241997 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&oldid=800721002 '' Categories : 1801 compositions Compositions in C - sharp minor Fantasias ( music ) Piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven Hidden categories : Wikipedia indefinitely move - protected pages Articles with hAudio microformats Works with IMSLP links Articles with International Music Score Library Project links Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Cebuano Čeština Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français 한국어 Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 September 2017, at 07 : 55. 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Question: how many movements are in the moonlight sonata
Answer: three