The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-11-09
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The Moonlight sonatap by Reethoyen.
aDid | ever tell you how or why
beethoven composcd- the Moonlight
Sonata2"
V at happened at Bonn. OF course
you know that Bonn was his native
place. He was bornin ahouse on the
Rheingasse; but when / first knew him
he was lodging in the upper part OF q
littlemean shop near the Romerplatz.
He was wretchedly poor just then; SO
poor that he never went out for walk
except at night, on account ofthe pow
erty Of his appearance. However he
had a piano, pens, paper, ink, and q
few books, and from these he contriv-
cd to extract some little happiness, de-
spite his s.privations, At thistime, you
know, he had not the misfortune to be
deaf. He could at least enjoy the har-
mony Of his own compositions, Later
in life he had not even that consola-
ton. One winters evening called
upon him, forI wanted him to take q
walk. and afterward sup withme. |
found him sitting by the window, in
tho moonlight, without fire or candle,
his head buried in his hands, and his
frame trembling with cold, for it was
freezing bitterly. Iroused | him, per
suaded him to accompany me, urged
him to shakeoff his dependency. He
went; but he was very gloomy and
shopcless that night, and refused TO be
comforted. Il hate life and the world,
ho said, passionately. 4 hato myself!
No one understands or cares for mo-
Ihave genius, and am treated as an
outcast. have heart, and none to
love- / wish 1t were all over and for.
cyerl wish thatI elying poacc-
fully at the bottom of the river yon-
der. j sometimes find itdiificult to
resist the temptation And he point
ed to the Rhine looking cold and bright
in the moonlight. / made no reply;
for it was useless to argue with, Bee,
thoven; so | allowed him to go on in
tho Same sstrain, which he did, nor
paused till we were returning through
tho town, when he subsided into sui
lon silence, did not caro- to interrupt
him. Passing through some dark, mar
= row streets within tho Coblentz,gato,
he paused suddenly. .Hushp he said
What sound is that2 listened and
heard the fecble tones of what was ey-
idently a very old piano, proceeding
from some place very close at hand.-
The performer was playing a plaintiye
movement in trippletime, and despite
the worthlossness of the instrument,
contrived to impart toit considerable
tenderness of expression. Beethoven
looked at me with sparkling eyes, 1T
is from my symphony in Fl ho said,
eagerly. This is tho house. Harkl
How well it is played2 1t was little
mean dwelling, with light shining
through the chink Of the shutters. Wo
paused outside and listened, The play
or went on, and the two following
movements woro executed with the
same fidelity--the same expression
In the middle of the finale there was
q sudden breaka momentary silcnce
--then tho low sounds of sobbing. 4
cannot 60 on, said q female voice. Il
cannot play any more tonight, Fred-
erickl' why not my sister, asked
her companion, gently. Iscarcely know
why, unless that it is SO beautiful,
and chat itseomss 50 utterly beyond my
power to do justice to its perfection.
Oh, what would / not give TO go to-
nightto Cologne There is q con-
cert given at tho Kanfhaus, and all
kinds of beautiful music to be per-
formed. Itmust be SO nice to 90 to a
concertls 'Ahl my sister, said the
man, signing, none but the rich can
afford such happiness It's useless to
create regrets for ourselves where
there can bc no remedy. We can
scarcely pay our rent nov, so why
dare even to think Of what is unat-
tainable2 'You are right, Frederick
was her rcply. And yet sometimes
when ! am playing,I wish that for