Immortal Sounds of the Moonlight Sonata. The history of the creation of the "moonlight sonata" Who performed the moonlight sonata

... Frankly speaking, putting this work in the school curriculum is as pointless as talking to an aging composer about the enthusiastic feelings of a girl who only recently came out of the cradle and didn’t learn how to love, but simply to feel adequately.

Children ... what will you take from them? Personally, I did not understand this work at the time. Yes, I would not understand even now, if one day I did not feel the same as the composer himself felt.

Some restraint, melancholy ... No, where is it. He just wanted to sob, his pain so drowned out his mind that the future seemed devoid of meaning and - like a chimney - of any lumen.

Beethoven had only one grateful listener left. piano.

Or was everything not as simple as it seems at first glance? What if it was even easier?

In fact, not the entire Sonata No. 14 is called "Moonlight Sonata", but only its first part. But this does not diminish the value of the remaining parts, since they can be used to judge the emotional state of the author at that time. Let's just say that if you listen to the Moonlight Sonata alone, then you will most likely simply fall into error. It cannot be taken as a standalone work. Although I really want to.

What do you think about when you hear it? About what a beautiful melody it was, and what a talented composer Beethoven was? Undoubtedly, all this is present.

It is interesting that when I heard her at school in a music lesson, the teacher commented on the introduction in such a way that it seemed that the author was more worried about the approaching deafness than the betrayal of her beloved.

What nonsense. As if at the moment when you see that your chosen one is leaving for another, something else already matters. Although ... if we assume that the whole work ends with "", then it would be so. Allegretto quite dramatically changes the interpretation of the entire work as a whole. Because it becomes clear: this is not just a short composition, it is a whole story.

Real art begins only where there is the utmost sincerity. And for a real composer, his music becomes the very outlet, the means by which he can talk about his feelings.

Very often, victims of unhappy love believe that if their chosen one understands their true feelings, then she will return. At least out of pity, if not out of love. It may be painful to admit, but that is the way things are.

"Hysterical nature" - what do you think it is? It is customary to attribute a hopelessly negative connotation to this expression, as well as its peculiarity to a greater extent to the fair sex than to the strong. Like, this is a desire to attract attention to yourself, as well as highlight your feelings against the background of everything else. It sounds cynical, because it’s customary to hide your feelings. Especially at the time Beethoven lived.

When you actively write music from year to year and put a part of yourself into it, and not just turn it into some kind of handicraft, you begin to feel a lot more sharply than you would like. Including loneliness. The writing of this composition began in 1800, and the sonata was published in 1802.

Was it the sadness of loneliness due to a worsening illness, or did the composer simply become depressed solely because of the beginning of falling in love?

Yes, sometimes it happens! The dedication of the sonata speaks more about unrequited love than the coloring of the introduction itself. Again, the Fourteenth Sonata is not just a melody about an unfortunate composer, it is an independent story. So it could also be a story about how love changed him.

Movement two: Allegretto

"A flower in the middle of the abyss". This is how Liszt put it about the allegretto of Sonata No. 14. Someone ... yes, not someone, but almost everyone at the beginning notes a striking change in emotional coloring. According to the same definition, some compare the introduction with the opening cup of the flower, and the second part with the flowering period. Well, the flowers have already appeared.

Yes, Beethoven was thinking about Juliet while writing this composition. If you forget the chronology, then you might think that this is either the sorrow of unrequited love (but in fact, in 1800, Ludwig had just begun to fall in love with this girl), or reflections on his hard lot.

Thanks to Allegretto, one can judge a different scenario: the composer, conveying shades of love and tenderness, talks about the world full of sadness in which his soul was BEFORE meeting Juliet.

And in the second, as in his famous letter to a friend, he talks about the change that happened to him due to his acquaintance with this girl.

If we consider the Fourteenth Sonata precisely from this point of view, then any shadow of contradiction instantly disappears, and everything becomes extremely clear and explainable.

What is incomprehensible here?

What can be said about music critics who were perplexed about the inclusion of this same scherzo in a work that generally has an extremely melancholy tone? Or the fact that they were inattentive, or the fact that they managed to live their whole lives without experiencing all that gamut of feelings and in the same sequence that the composer happened to experience? It's up to you, let it be your opinion.

But at some point, Beethoven was just…happy! And this happiness is spoken of in the allegretto of this sonata.

Part Three: Presto agitato

... And a sharp burst of energy. What was it? Resentment that a young impudent did not accept his love? It can no longer be called suffering alone, in this part bitterness, resentment and, to a much greater extent, indignation are rather intertwined. Yes, yes, indignation! How could you reject his feelings?! How dare she?!

And little by little, feelings become quieter, although certainly not calmer. How insulting… But in the depths of my soul the ocean of emotions continues to rage. The composer seems to be walking around the room back and forth, overwhelmed by conflicting emotions.

It was a sharply wounded vanity, outraged pride and impotent rage, which Beethoven could release in only one way - in music.

Anger is gradually replaced by contempt (“how could you!”), And he breaks off all relations with his beloved, who by that time was already cooing with might and main with Count Wenzel Galenberg. And puts an end to the decisive chord.

"That's it, I've had enough!"

But such determination cannot last long. Yes, this man was extremely emotional, and his feelings were real, although not always controlled. More precisely, that is why it is not controlled.

He could not kill tender feelings, could not kill love, although he sincerely wanted this. He yearned for his student. Even six months later, I couldn't stop thinking about her. This can be seen from his Heiligenstadt will.

Now such a relationship would not be accepted by society. But then the times were different and the customs were different. A seventeen-year-old girl was already considered more than ripe for marriage and was even free to choose her boyfriend.

Now she would have barely finished school and, by default, would still be considered a naive child, and Ludwig himself would have thundered under the article “seduction of minors”. But then again, times were different.

Analysis of sonatas No. 8 c-moll ("Pathetic"), No. 14 cis moll ("Lunar")

"Pathetic Sonata (No. 8)

Written by Beethoven in 1798. The title "Great Pathetic Sonata" belongs to the composer himself. "Pathetic" (from the Greek word "pathos" - "pathos") means "with high spirits." This name applies to all three movements of the sonata, although this "elevation" is expressed differently in each movement. The sonata was greeted by contemporaries as an unusual, bold work.

The first part of the Pathetique Sonata was written at a fast pace and is the most intense in its sound. Its sonata allegro form is also common. The music itself and its development, in comparison with the sonatas of Haydn and Mozart, are deeply original and contain a lot of new I. Prokhorov. Musical literature of foreign countries. - M.: Music, 2002., p. 60. .

Unusually already the beginning of the sonata. Music at a fast pace is preceded by a slow introduction. Heavy chords sound gloomy and at the same time solemnly. From the lower register, the sound avalanche gradually moves upwards. The threatening questions are getting more and more insistent:

They are answered by a gentle, melodious melody with a touch of supplication, which sounds against the background of calm chords:

It seems that these are two different, sharply contrasting themes. But if we compare their melodic structure, it turns out that they are very close to each other, almost the same. Like a compressed spring, the introduction harbored a huge force that demanded an exit, a discharge.

A fast-paced sonata allegro begins. The main party resembles violently rising waves. Against the background of the restless movement of the bass, the melody of the upper voice anxiously runs up and down:

The connecting part gradually calms the excitement of the main theme and leads to a melodic and melodious side part:

However, the wide "run-up" of the secondary theme (almost three octaves), the "pulsating" accompaniment give it a tense character. Contrary to the rules established in the sonatas of the Viennese classics, the side part of the "Pathetique Sonata" sounds not in parallel major (E-flat major), but in the minor mode of the same name (E-flat minor).

The energy is growing. She breaks through with renewed vigor in the final part (E-flat major). Short figurations of broken arpeggios, like biting beats, run across the entire piano keyboard in a divergent movement. The lower and upper voices reach the extreme registers. The gradual increase in sonority from pianissimo to forte leads to a powerful climax, to the highest point in the musical development of the exposition.

The second closing theme that follows it is only a short respite before a new "explosion". At the end of the conclusion, the impetuous theme of the main party unexpectedly sounds. The exposition ends on an unstable chord. At the boundary between exposition and development, the gloomy theme of the introduction reappears. But here her formidable questions remain unanswered: the lyrical theme does not return. On the other hand, its significance increases greatly in the middle section of the first part of the sonata - development.

Development is small and very stressful. "Struggle" flares up between two sharply contrasting themes: the impetuous main part and the lyrical opening theme. At a fast pace, the opening theme sounds even more restless, pleading. This duel between "strong" and "weak" results in a hurricane of impetuous and stormy passages, which gradually subside, going deeper and deeper into the lower register.

The reprise repeats the themes of the exposition in the same order in the main key - C minor.

The changes concern the connecting party. It is significantly reduced, since the tone of all topics is the same. But the main party has expanded, which emphasizes its leading role.

Just before the end of the first part, the first theme of the introduction appears again. The first part is completed by the main theme, sounding at an even faster pace. Will, energy, courage won.

The second movement, Adagio cantabile (slow, melodious) in A flat major, is a deep reflection on something serious and significant, perhaps a memory of what has just been experienced or thoughts about the future.

Against the background of measured accompaniment, a noble and majestic melody sounds. If in the first part pathos was expressed in the elation and brightness of music, then here it manifested itself in the depth, sublimity and high wisdom of human thought.

The second part is amazing in its colors, reminiscent of the sound of orchestral instruments. At first, the main melody appears in the middle register, and this gives it a thick cello coloring:

The second time the same melody is stated in the upper register. Now its sound resembles the voices of violins.

In the middle section of the Adagio cantabile, a new theme appears:

The call of two voices is clearly distinguishable. A melodious, gentle melody in one voice is answered by a jerky, "dissatisfied" voice in the bass. The minor mode (of the same name in A-flat minor), the restless triplet accompaniment give the theme an unsettling character. A dispute between two voices leads to a conflict, the music becomes even more poignant and emotional. Sharp, emphasized exclamations (sforzando) appear in the melody. The sonority intensifies, which becomes denser, as if the whole orchestra is entering.

With the return of the main theme comes the reprise. But the nature of the theme has changed significantly. Instead of leisurely accompaniment by sixteenth notes, restless figurations of triplets are heard. They moved here from the middle part as a reminder of the anxiety experienced. Therefore, the first theme no longer sounds so calm. And only at the end of the second part do gentle and friendly "farewell" turns appear.

The third movement is the finale, Allegro. The impetuous, agitated music of the finale has much in common with the first part of the sonata.

The main key in C minor also returns. But there is not that courageous, strong-willed pressure that so distinguished the first part. There is no sharp contrast between the themes in the finale - the source of the "struggle", and with it the tension of development.

The finale is written in the form of a rondo sonata. The main theme (refrain) is repeated four times here.

It is she who determines the nature of the whole part:

This lyrically agitated theme is close both in character and in its melodic pattern to the side part of the first movement. She is also elevated, pathetic, but her pathos has a more restrained character. The melody of the refrain is very expressive.

It is quickly remembered, it can be easily sung.

The refrain alternates with two other themes. The first of them (side part) is very mobile, it is set out in E-flat major.

The second is given in polyphonic presentation. This is the episode replacing development:

The finale, and with it the entire sonata, ends with a coda. Energetic, strong-willed music, akin to the moods of the first part, sounds. But the stormy impetuosity of the themes of the first part of the sonata gives way here to decisive melodic turns, expressing courage and inflexibility:

What new things did Beethoven bring to the "Pathétique Sonata" in comparison with the sonatas of Haydn and Mozart? First of all, the nature of the music became different, reflecting the deeper, more significant thoughts and experiences of a person (Mozart's sonata in C minor (with fantasy) can be considered as the direct predecessor of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata). Hence - a comparison of sharply contrasting themes, especially in the first part. The contrasting juxtaposition of the themes, and then their "collision", "struggle" gave the music a dramatic character. The great intensity of the music also caused a great power of sound, the scope and complexity of the technique. In some moments of the piano sonata, as it were, it acquires an orchestral sound. The "Pathetic Sonata" has a much larger volume than the sonatas of Haydn and Mozart, it lasts longer in time by I. Prokhorov. Musical literature of foreign countries. - M.: Music, 2002, p. 65.

"Moonlight Sonata" (#14)

The most inspired, poetic and original works of Bekhoven belong to the "Moonlight Sonata" (op. 27, 1801) *.

* This title, which is essentially very little suited to the tragic mood of the sonata, does not belong to Beethoven. So it was called by the poet Ludwig Relshtab, who compared the music of the first part of the sonata with the landscape of Lake Firwaldstet on a moonlit night.

In a sense, the Moonlight Sonata is the antipode of the Pathetique. There is no theatricality and operatic pathos in it, its sphere is deep spiritual movements.

Associated with one of the most powerful heart experiences in Beethoven's life, this work is distinguished by its special emotional freedom and lyrical immediacy. The composer called it "Sonata Quasi una Fantasia", thus emphasizing the freedom of construction.

During the creation of "Lunar" Beethoven generally worked on updating the traditional sonata cycle. Thus, in the Twelfth Sonata, the first movement is written not in sonata form, but in the form of variations; The thirteenth sonata is of improvisational free origin, without a single sonata allegro; in the Eighteenth there is no traditional "lyrical serenade", it is replaced by a minuet; in Twenty-first, the second part turned into an extended introduction to the finale, and so on.

In line with these searches is the cycle "Lunar"; its form differs significantly from the traditional one. And, however, the features of improvisation inherent in this music are combined with the usual logical harmony for Beethoven. Moreover, the sonata cycle "Lunar" is marked by a rare unity. The three parts of the sonata form an inseparable whole, in which the role of the dramatic center is played by the finale.

The main departure from the traditional scheme is the first part - Adagio, which neither in general expressive appearance nor in form is in contact with the classicist sonata.

In a sense, Adagio can be perceived as a prototype of the future romantic nocturne. It is imbued with a deep lyrical mood, it is colored with gloomy tones. Some common stylistic features bring it closer to the romantic chamber-piano art. Of great and, moreover, independent importance is the same type of texture sustained from beginning to end. Also important is the method of opposing two plans - the harmonic "pedal" background and the expressive melody of the cantilena warehouse. The muffled sound that prevails in Adagio is characteristic.

Schubert's "Impromptu", nocturnes and preludes by Chopin and Field, "Songs Without Words" by Mendelssohn and many other pieces of romantics go back to this amazing "miniature" from the classicist sonata.

And at the same time, this music is at the same time different from the dreamy romantic nocturne. It is too deeply imbued with chorale, sublimely prayerful mood, depth and restraint of feeling, which are not associated with subjectivity, with a changeable state of mind, inseparable from romantic lyrics.

The second part - a transformed graceful "minuet" - serves as a light interlude between the two acts of the drama. And at the end, a storm breaks out. The tragic mood, contained in the first part, breaks here in an unrestrained stream. But again, purely in Beethoven's way, the impression of unbridled, unfettered emotional excitement is achieved through strict classicist methods of shaping *.

* The form of the finale is a sonata allegro with contrasting themes.

The main constructive element of the finale is a laconic, invariably repeating motif, intonationally associated with the chordal texture of the first movement:

In this motif, as in an embryo, there is a dynamic device typical of the entire finale: a purposeful movement from a weak beat to a strong one, with an emphasis on the last sound. The contrast between the strict periodicity of repetitions of the motif and the rapid development of intonations creates the effect of extreme excitement.

On such an ascending, ever-increasing dramatic movement with a sharp emphasis at the very end, the main theme is built:

On an even larger scale, this same type of development is reflected in the form of the finale.

The arpeggiated presentation, which in the first part expressed calmness and contemplation, acquires the character of acute excitement. These intonations dominate the finale, sometimes transforming into a raging backdrop. They also penetrate into the pathetic secondary part, which is distinguished by oratorical and speech expressiveness.

The music of the entire movement embodies the image of stormy tragic excitement. A whirlwind of confused feelings, cries of despair, impotence and protest, humility and anger are heard in this finale, stunning in its strength, V. Konen. The history of foreign music. From 1789 to the middle of the XIX century. Issue 3 - M.: Music, 1967, pp. 113-116. .

Beethoven's outstanding achievement - three sonatas op.31 (No. 16, 17, 18), appeared in the critical years immediately preceding the Heroic Symphony. Each of them is extremely individualized. The most famous and, perhaps, the most perfect of them - Seventeenth in d-moll (1802), of a tragic nature, extremely close both in general appearance and the nature of the thematism to Gluck's overture to "Alceste". Themes, marked by outstanding melodic beauty, are combined with improvisational structures. New here are recitative episodes in the spirit of operatic recitations:

The finale anticipates the Fifth Symphony in its formative principles: an expressive mournful motif, based on the principle of dance rhythmic ostinato, permeates the development of the entire movement, playing the role of its main architectonic cell. In the Sixteenth Sonata (1802), etude-piaiistic techniques become a means of creating a scherzo-humorous image. Unusual here are the terts tonal

ratios in the exposition (C-dur - H-dur), anticipating the development of the "Pastoral Symphony".

The eighteenth (1804), large-scale and somewhat free in cyclic structure (the second part here is a marching scherzo, the third is a lyrical minuet), combines the features of the classicist distinctness of thematism and rhythmic movement with the dreaminess and emotional freedom inherent in romantic art.

Dance or humorous motifs sound in the Sixth, Twenty-second and other sonatas. In a number of compositions, Beethoven emphasizes new virtuoso pianistic tasks (except for the mentioned Lunar, Aurora and Sixteenth, also in the Third, Eleventh and others). He always connects the technique with the new expressiveness he develops in piano literature. And although it was in Beethoven's sonatas that the transition from harpsichord playing to modern pianistic art took place, the development of pianism in the 19th century did not generally coincide with the specific virtuosity developed by Beethoven.

The history of the creation of "Moonlight Sonata" by L. Beethoven

At the very end of the 18th century, Ludwig van Beethoven was in his prime, he was incredibly popular, led an active social life, he could rightfully be called the idol of the youth of that time. But one circumstance began to overshadow the life of the composer - a gradually fading ear. “I drag out a bitter existence,” Beethoven wrote to his friend. “I am deaf. With my craft, nothing can be more terrible ... Oh, if I got rid of this disease, I would embrace the whole world.

In 1800, Beethoven met the Guicciardi aristocrats who had come from Italy to Vienna. The daughter of a respectable family, sixteen-year-old Juliet, had good musical abilities and wished to take piano lessons from the idol of the Viennese aristocracy. Beethoven does not take payment from the young countess, and she in turn gives him a dozen shirts that she sewed herself.

Beethoven was a strict teacher. When he didn’t like Juliet’s playing, he was annoyed and threw notes on the floor, defiantly turned away from the girl, and she silently collected notebooks from the floor.
Juliette was pretty, young, outgoing and flirtatious with her 30-year-old teacher. And Beethoven succumbed to her charm. “Now I am more often in society, and therefore my life has become more cheerful,” he wrote to Franz Wegeler in November 1800. - This change was made in me by a sweet, charming girl who loves me, and whom I love. I again have bright moments, and I come to the conclusion that marriage can make a person happy. Beethoven thought about marriage despite the fact that the girl belonged to an aristocratic family. But the composer in love consoled himself with the fact that he would give concerts, achieve independence, and then marriage would become possible.

He spent the summer of 1801 in Hungary at the estate of the Hungarian counts of Brunswick, relatives of Juliet's mother, in Korompa. The summer spent with his beloved was the happiest time for Beethoven.
At the peak of his feelings, the composer set about creating a new sonata. The arbor, in which, according to legend, Beethoven composed magical music, has been preserved to this day. In the homeland of the work, in Austria, it is known under the name "Garden House Sonata" or "Sonata - Arbor".

The sonata began in a state of great love, delight and hope. Beethoven was sure that Juliet had the most tender feelings for him. Many years later, in 1823, Beethoven, then already deaf and communicating with the help of conversational notebooks, talking with Schindler, wrote: “I was very loved by her and more than ever, was her husband ...”
In the winter of 1801-1802, Beethoven completed the composition of a new work. And in March 1802, Sonata No. 14, which the composer called quasi una Fantasia, that is, “in the spirit of fantasy,” was published in Bonn with the dedication “Alla Damigella Contessa Giullietta Guicciardri” (“Dedicated to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi”).
The composer was finishing his masterpiece in anger, fury and the strongest resentment: from the first months of 1802, the windy coquette showed a clear preference for the eighteen-year-old Count Robert von Gallenberg, who was also fond of music and composed very mediocre musical opuses. However, Juliet Gallenberg seemed brilliant.
The whole storm of human emotions that was in Beethoven's soul at that time, the composer conveys in his sonata. These are grief, doubts, jealousy, doom, passion, hope, longing, tenderness and, of course, love.

Beethoven and Juliet broke up. And even later, the composer received a letter. It ended with cruel words: “I am leaving a genius who has already won, to a genius who is still fighting for recognition. I want to be his guardian angel." It was a "double blow" - as a man and as a musician. In 1803 Giulietta Guicciardi married Gallenberg and left for Italy.
In turmoil, in October 1802, Beethoven left Vienna and went to Heiligenstadt, where he wrote the famous "Heiligenstadt Testament" (October 6, 1802): unfair to me; you do not know the secret reason for what you think. Since childhood, I have been predisposed in my heart and mind to a tender feeling of kindness, I have always been ready to do great things. But just think that for six years now I have been in an unfortunate state ... I am completely deaf ... "
Fear, the collapse of hopes give rise to thoughts of suicide in the composer. But Beethoven gathered his strength, decided to start a new life and, in almost absolute deafness, created great masterpieces.
In 1821 Juliet returned to Austria and came to live with Beethoven. Crying, she recalled the wonderful time when the composer was her teacher, talked about the poverty and difficulties of her family, asked to forgive her and help with money. Being a kind and noble man, the maestro gave her a significant amount, but asked her to leave and never appear in his house. Beethoven seemed indifferent and indifferent. But who knows what was going on in his heart, torn by numerous disappointments.
“I despised her,” Beethoven recalled much later. “After all, if I wanted to give my life to this love, what would be left for the noble, for the higher?”

In the autumn of 1826, Beethoven fell ill. Exhausting treatment, three complex operations could not put the composer on his feet. Throughout the winter, without getting out of bed, he was completely deaf, tormented by the fact that ... he could not continue to work. On March 26, 1827, the great musical genius Ludwig van Beethoven died.
After his death, a letter “To the immortal beloved” was found in a secret drawer of the wardrobe (this is how Beethoven titled the letter himself): “My angel, my everything, my self ... Why is there deep sadness where necessity reigns? Can our love only endure at the cost of sacrifice by renouncing fullness, can't you change the situation in which you are not wholly mine and I am not wholly yours? What a life! Without you! So close! So far! What longing and tears for you - you - you, my life, my everything ... ”Many will then argue about who exactly the message is addressed to. But a small fact points specifically to Juliet Guicciardi: next to the letter was a tiny portrait of Beethoven's beloved, made by an unknown master, and the Heiligenstadt Testament.

Be that as it may, it was Juliet who inspired Beethoven to write an immortal masterpiece.
“The monument to love, which he wanted to create with this sonata, very naturally turned into a mausoleum. For a man like Beethoven, love could not be anything else than hope beyond the grave and sorrow, spiritual mourning here on earth ”(Alexander Serov, composer and music critic).
Sonata "in the spirit of fantasy" was at first simply Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, which consisted of three movements - Adagio, Allegro and Finale. In 1832, the German poet Ludwig Relshtab, one of Beethoven's friends, saw in the first part of the work the image of Lake Lucerne on a quiet night, with moonlight reflecting from the surface. He suggested the name "Lunar". Years will pass, and the first measured part of the work: “Adagio sonata N 14 quasi una fantasia”, will become known to the whole world under the name “Moonlight Sonata”.

This romantic name for the sonata was given not by the author himself, but by the music critic Ludwig Relshtab in 1832, after Beethoven's death.

And the composer's sonata had a more prosaic name:Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op. 27, no. 2.Then they began to add to this name in brackets: "Lunar". Moreover, this second name applied only to its first part, the music of which seemed to critics to be similar to moonlight over Lake Firwaldstet - this is a famous lake in Switzerland, which is also called Lucerne. This lake has nothing to do with the name of Beethoven, just such a game of associations.

So, Moonlight Sonata.

History of creation and romantic overtones

Sonata No. 14 was written in 1802 and is dedicated to Giulietta Guicciardi (Italian by birth). Beethoven gave music lessons to this 18-year-old girl in 1801 and fell in love with her. Not just in love, but had serious intentions to marry her, but she, unfortunately, fell in love with another and married him. Later she became a famous Austrian pianist and singer.

Art critics believe that he even left a testament in which he calls Juliet his "immortal lover" - he sincerely believed that his love was mutual. This is evident from Beethoven's letter dated November 16, 1801: "The change that has now taken place in me is caused by a sweet wonderful girl who loves me and is loved by me."

But when you listen to the third part of this sonata, you understand that at the time of writing the work, Beethoven no longer experienced any illusions about reciprocity on the part of Juliet. But first things first…

The form of this sonata is somewhat different from the classical sonata form. And Beethoven emphasized this in the subtitle "in the spirit of fantasy."

sonata form is a musical form that consists of 3 main sections: the first section is called exposition, it contrasts the main and side parties. Second section - development, in which these topics are developed. Third section - reprise, repeats the exposure with changes.

"Moonlight Sonata" consists of 3 parts.

1 part Adagio sostenuto- slow musical tempo. In classical sonata form, this tempo is usually used in the middle movement. The music is slow and rather mournful, its rhythmic movement is somewhat monotonous, which does not really correspond to Beethoven's music. But bass chords, melody and rhythm amazingly create a living harmony of sounds that fascinate any listener and remind of the magical moonlight.

part 2 allegretto- Moderately brisk pace. There is some kind of hope, a spiritual uplift. But it does not lead to a happy ending, as the last, third part will show.

part 3 Presto agitato- very fast paced. In contrast to the perky mood of the Allegro tempo, Presto usually sounds brash and even aggressive, and its complexity requires a virtuoso level of musical instrument skills. The writer Romain Rolland described the last part of Beethoven's sonata in an interesting and figurative way: “A man driven to the extreme falls silent, his breath stops. And when, in a minute, the breath comes to life and the person rises, futile efforts, sobs, and riots are over. Everything is said, the soul is devastated. In the last bars, only the majestic force remains, conquering, taming, accepting the flow.

Indeed, this is the strongest flow of feelings, in which despair, hope, the collapse of hopes and the inability to express the pain that a person experiences. Awesome music!

Modern perception of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is one of the most popular pieces of classical music in the world. It is often performed at concerts, it sounds in many films, performances, skaters use it for their performances, it sounds in the background in video games.

The performers of this sonata were the most famous pianists of the world: Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels and many others.

Moonlight Sonata: Music of Gone Love.
This beautiful piano work is known not only by avid music lovers, but also by any more or less cultured person. Even people who are far from musical art have at least once heard a melody full of bewitching sadness, or at least the phrase “moonlight sonata”. So what is this work?

About music

The real title of the piece is Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor. It was written by the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven in 1801.

The fourteenth sonata, like the thirteenth that preceded it, is provided with the author's subtitle "In the spirit of fantasy." With this clarification, the composer wanted to draw attention to the difference between the form of his composition and the generally accepted one for this genre. At that time, the traditional sonata consisted of four parts. The beginning was supposed to be at a fast pace, and the second part - at a slow pace.

Sonata No. 14 includes three movements. Without going into technical musical terminology, they can be briefly described as follows:
1. Slow and reserved;
2. lively in a dance character;
3. excitedly - impetuous.
It turns out that the first part was, as it were, skipped, and the work began immediately with the second.

It is noteworthy that the name "Lunar" refers only to the first, most famous in wide circles, part. The name was given not by Beethoven, but by his younger contemporary, the German music critic and playwright Ludwig Relstab. Although the critic was personally acquainted with the composer, the comparison of music with moonlight appeared in 1832, after the death of the author. In Relshtab's ideas, the music of the first part of the sonata was associated with "moonlight over the Firwaldstadt Lake", according to his own statement.

The sound of the first, "lunar" part is not at all lyrical, as it might seem at first glance, but mournful. For example, criticism of Alexander Serov in music even mournful despondency was heard. There is an explanation for the mournful and dramatic intonations of music, which will be discussed below.

About the history of creation

The work was dedicated to a young seventeen-year-old girl named Juliet Guicciardi. She was a noble aristocrat who took piano lessons from Beethoven. Soon, the joint pastime of the thirty-year-old musician and his talented young ward went beyond the framework of the teacher-student relationship. The composer fell in love with a capable, intelligent and beautiful countess. Juliet was at first supportive of him and responded with mutual feelings. Beethoven was overwhelmed with emotions and made happy plans for a joint family future with his beloved.

But all his dreams collapsed when the young aristocrat was carried away by Count Wenzel Gallenberg. By the way, Beethoven's rival was a very mediocre amateur composer.

Ludwig took the act of his beloved as a betrayal. Probably, personal experiences were aggravated by a purely professional perception of the situation: Juliet preferred him, a musical genius, to a mediocre amateur.

Despite the title and noble origin, the girl's family was not rich. Juliet and her parents were always very welcoming to Ludwig in their home as an equal and never acted arrogantly. However, when it came to marriage, preference was given to Count Gallenberg, whom Juliet Guicciardi married.

It is noteworthy that Beethoven was originally going to dedicate another composition to his beloved girl - Rondo in G - major. This was at a time when the relationship between them was still cloudless and happy. For reasons not related to personal sympathy, Rondo was dedicated to another lady - Princess Lichnovskaya.

The Guicciardi dedication was made in memory of the past happy time spent together. And although the Piano Sonata No. 14 was published with a dedication on the title page, Beethoven never forgave Juliet for "treason".

In the 21st century, the work is one of the most popular masterpieces of classical music. According to statistical studies, in the Yandex search engine, a request for "Moonlight Sonata" is made more than thirty-five thousand times a month.