Moonlight sonata analysis

Analysis of ‘Moonlight Sonata’ by Ludwig van Beethoven

Sonata quasi una fantasia, Piano sonata No.14 in C# minor Op. 27, N.2

Ludwig van Beethoven was a pianist and a composer who was born in Bonn, Germany year and died in Vienna, Austria (1770-1827). He was taught piano and violin from a very young age from his father. As a teenager he was sent to Vienna for unknown reasons but there he shortly studied with Mozart. After the death of his parents he became a permanent resident in Vienna. There he established himself as a composer. Although at this point already starting to lose his hearing and he actually composed his most important works during the last ten years of his life, when he was mostly deaf. Some of the most famous pieces of Beethoven are; Adelaide, Op. 46, Pathetique Sonata, No. 8 Op. 30, Eroica Symphony (Third) Op. 55, Fifth Symphony, Op. 67 and the piece being analysed moonlight sonata. 

This piece that has become one of the most well know pieces of classical music since the about 200 years ago when it was written got its name ‘Moonlight sonata’ from a music critique Ludwig Rellstab because of its eerie presence after Beethoven had died.  It is said that Beethoven was inspired to write it while visiting Lake Balaton located in Hungary. Although it is a sonata it does not follow the traditional form of a classical period sonata. Instead of this fast-slow-fast-fast layout it progresses towards a fast tempo over the span of all the three movements. Starting from the first movement ‘Adagio sostenuto’ which means ‘sustained in slow time’, to ‘Allegretto’ meaning ‘fairly quickly’ and to the third and final movement of the piece ‘Presto agitato’ roughly meaning ‘quick agitation’ As per usual for sonatas the first movement is the most well known and most played, there are ten times the amount of recordings on it than there is of the whole piece. Moonlight sonata is one of the main pieces that marks the transitional period between the classical and romantic era in which Beethoven as a composer was predominant figure.

1^st movement – Adagio sostenuto

The beginning movement of this sonata is played in C# minor and is in fact common time and two beats to the bar. It appears to be four to the bar because of the triplet subvision in the right-hand which persist as an ostinato throughout. The movement is traditionally performed slowly although when you take in to consideration the adagio instruction and apply it to two instead of four beats to the bar its effects are far from adagio. The first four bars are the introduction. It has a descending bass-line that characterises it. Beethoven has borrowed this bass-line from Albinonis’ Adagio. After this starts the entreating polyrhythmic motif that makes up the main theme; the one that everyone can recognise. These four beats of polyrhythm and perpetual triplets are borrowed from Mozart, much like many other aspects of this piece. This particular feature is from The Commendatore’s death scene in Don Giovanni.  Other obvious feature that Beethoven couldn’t help but copy from Mozart is the tonic major-to-minor progression that initiate the modulation to the second subject. This was used by Mozart 25 years earlier in Sonata n.4 in E major. This first movement includes one of the most discussed and argued notation. There is a fair amount of disagreement in the matter of the 12^th bar’s second triplet group. Players are disagreeing whether to play c or a b. Though there is a dispute on this there is a clear answer to this. It is to be played as c. The simple reason for this is the counterpoint rule of the classical era. It states that two separate voices mustn’t move in parallel octaves or fifths unless other one is doubling. Because the bass line is already doubled, the triplet cannot double it so it is c. This first movement is the one that follows the guidelines of classical sonata the most, but it still holds a couple of quirks. Its unusual tonal progression is not common in classical period sonatas and this is most likely the reason why Beethoven called the piece ‘Sonata quasi una fantasia’. Fantasia often meaning that the piece is of free form. Also in the exposition the second subject isn’t dominant as it should be in classical form. It is in B minor, which isn’t even a parallel key. The movement ends with the main motif gets darker and forth telling of dimness ahead as it moves in to left-hand ground.

2^nd Movement –Allegretto  

This movement differs from the other two quite drastically. It is cheery and light-hearted. It creates a break in the intenseness of the other two movements, it’s like the eye of the storm where the storm is behind and ahead, yet it is sunny and bright. Allegretto is played in D flat major, which is the more easily notated enharmonic equivalent to C# major; the parallel major of the first movement’s C# minor. Even with the slight majority of movement in piano frequent sforzandos and forte-pianos keep the melody cheerful. This light-hearted classical harmony’s main motif isn’t really much of a melody and is repeated 20 times in the course of two minutes. The trio on par with the allegretto and the two repeats of two eight-bar sequences bring some contrast to this part and after this is the obvious allegretto repeated da capo after the trio. This movement is the shortest of them all with a bar count of only 60 bars and duration of two minutes.

3^rd Movement –Presto agitato

The third and final movement of this sonata is a fierce and stormy piece in C# minor. It is the weightiest of all of the movements and a part of Beethoven’s experiment in locating the most important movement last. It’s heavy and fiery feel is created by many fast arpeggios and strongly accented notes. Presto agitato starts off with the same notes as the 1^st movement with an added agitato instruction. After this it modifies the three note motif in a way that the rhythmic pattern with the second note on the weakest beat keeps the initial core harmonic structure the same. This is repeated six times. The theme continuous until there’s a Neapolitan flattened supertonic; this is from the 3^rd bar of the 1^st movement. After this it continues until it meets it again but an octave lower this time around. Shortly after this finally the melody meets another theme which leads it to the closing subject. In this the exposition is repeated as expected but the development and recapitulation are not. The development kicks off with first subject arpeggios in tonic major but shortly turns into the cantable theme from the 2^nd subject which repositions into the left hand, there jumping up and down until meeting the long dominant pedal point that is predicting the reprise, much like in the 1^st movement but without the diminished seventh chord. The reprise basically duplicates the whole of the exposition excluding standard key changes and minor alterations. After this we finally get to the final ascent that has not one but two climax points one after another. The start of this ascent creates an illusion of entering another development section. This shows us why only exposition was repeated. The whole second part is twice as long as the exposition and also the climax wouldn’t work a second time. The first climax is based on the first subject as expected while the second climax is more elaborate and emotive. It develops on the second subject motif before rolling into triplet arpeggios. The ultimate climax is a quick pace intricate ‘mess’. Up and down several times up through a chromatic scale, trill, descending again in an almost improvisation figuration and after that we come to a grinding halt, then adagio. Tempo I piu tranquillo, piano. Then a pedal point returns for six bars, pianissimo. Then presto, forte. A final descend to the arpeggio, sforzando descend and two blast, fortissimo, senza pedale. This might be the darkness and blackness the 1^st movement’s ending predicted.

The moonlight sonata is as a whole a piece that with the first look seems simple and straight forward, yet when looked at more closely it has a lot of small but important and revolutionary features in it. It is most definitely important piece of music in the transition to romantic from classical period.

Advanced Music final commentry

Sonata No.4 in E flat major by Mozart and sonata No.14 in C sharp minor by L. van Beethoven are both excellent piano sonatas both staying true to the styles of their composers. The Beethoven was the first piece of classical music I ever heard and I’ve always been captivated by the simplicity yet richness of it. After looking more into it I noticed that Beethoven had taken a lot of influence in his composing from Mozart and in the case of the ‘moonlight’ sonata especially from Mozart’s No.4 in E flat major. This is why I wanted to look more into this piece to deepen my understanding of the different ways the sonata form can be explored and how the interpretation of it has changed over the years.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) was an Austrian born composer, often referred to a prodigy from a young age. He started playing publicly at the age of 6 and could play multiple instruments. During his life he performed in numerous European venues and had various patrons and employments of which being the court composer in Salzburg is probably the most well know. He composed hundreds of works that contain sonatas, symphonies, masses, concertos and operas. All of these laced with vivid and sophisticated textures. Though Mozart did in a sense stick with the customs of music of the time in his compositions, he did lace his pieces with a lot of originality and new ideas that helped new composers like Beethoven to take it to the next level.

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German, Bonn born composer famously known as being deaf. He was a predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven is often said to have reinvented the symphony, and redefined piano sonata. He was a prodigy like Mozart as well having been a talented player at a very young age. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. He also composed other chamber music, choral works and songs. Beethoven’s works are often the ones that everyone can recognise thanks to their strong motifs and emotion filled melodies. 

The Mozart piece is in E flat major like stated in the name and played in common time. Unusually for a sonata of the time the piece is in adagio instead of allegro. The exposition and the principal theme start off with an intro like three bars with a descending bass line, ending in a trill. This is leading up to a simple binary motif, rich with acciaccaturas, that Mozart is known for using in his compositions. Mozart returns to the motif later in the piece. This motif starts of in bar 4 as well as an alberty bass in the left hand. Use of quickly alternating dynamics shows the use of fortepiano.  This part lasts for four bars until change happens in bar 8 which work as a bridge between the principal theme and secondary subject.   This bar is written in contrary motion and ends in an imperfect cadence.  In the start of the second subject the piece modulates into B flat and the accompaniment changes from alberty bass to quavers.  The second subject goes on and in bar 13 there is heavy use of acciaccatura and as the exposition is coming the end in the last beat of bar 14 there are a diminished 7th chord and a plagal cadence.  The exposition gets repeated from the beginning.

The development starts at bar 16 and true to him it is the shortest part of the piece. Unlike in normal sonata form, this development repeats from the start of the principal theme creating a dovetail effect with the coming recap. First three bars of the development go on regular and after that the melody and bass line get flipped. Bar 21 works as a gateway from the development to the recap. On the first beat there’s a trill and going into recap there’s a crescendo making the recap stand out. Like mentioned before, the recap doesn’t start from the beginning like it would in by-the-book sonata form but from bar 4. The recapilation from here on is from the principal subject until bar 26 which mirrors bar eight working as a bridge in between the two subjects. The recapping of the second subject goes on until 33. In this bar Mozart retrogrades bar 15 from the exposition to finish of the recapilation. Development and recap are both repeated like they were generally done in Mozart’s time.

The coda is three bars from 34 to 36. The first bar of the coda is reminding of the first bar of the whole piece and in bar 35 there is a new triplet formation. The coda is goes quieter by each bar ending in pianissimo.

Beethoven’s piano sonata no.14 in C sharp major is also known as ‘moonlight sonata’ because of its eeriness. This is a revolutionary piece of music taking classical music from classical to romantic period. First directions of this piece are given that one should play this whole piece with great delicacy and sustain pedal throughout the whole of first movement.  Beethoven is deliberately trying to convey a dark and a sad feeling in this piece. This differs from Mozart who composed music for dancing and entertainment. Mozart doesn’t give nearly as much directions for the player as Beethoven does, leaving the interpretation open. This might be because unlike Mozart, Beethoven is trying to capture a specific moment and feeling. Beethoven uses the pedal points in this first movement to create a sense of depression and sorrow. In the Beethoven there is exploring of the ‘new’ piano and its possibilities bringing different aspects to the piece where Mozart used the fortepiano. The piece is in C sharp minor and has a time signature of 2/2, which is an uncommon time for a first movement of a sonata. Like in the Mozart, the first movement is in Adagio which again uncommon since the norm for sonata form is to have an allegro to begin and after that go into a slower, but Beethoven is exploring the limits of sonata form in starting slowly and then in second movement picking the tempo up.

Exposition starts from the beginning and lasts until bar 23 which is longer than in the Mozart. Unlike in the Mozart this piece has an intro; bars 1 to 5. In the right hand you have broken chord triplet figurations while the left hand is playing the accompanying descending bass line in octaves. In bar 4 of the intro there is suspension throughout the bar and it ends in a perfect cadence and a dominant 7^th chord. Bar 5 works as a bridge between the intro and the principal theme, starting the dotted rhythm that continuous to theme. The key is changed to E major and the bar ends in an anacrusis. Theme A begins in a fanfare like motif and an inverted pedal note. This theme is carried out to the end of this movement. Unlike Mozart, Beethoven doesn’t keep this motif going for the whole piece. This simple motif is played for 5 bars and in bar 11 there is a bridge passage and after that there is a modulation to c major. Theme B of the exposition starts in bar 15, lasting 9 bars. Bar 16 has dissonance that gets resolute by the diminished chord the first beat of bar 17. Where Mozart followed the sonata form and repeats the exposition, Beethoven caries on straight to the development. 

Development of this movement starts at bar 24 and is modulated into F sharp minor. It starts with repetition of the first four bars of theme A. After this in bar 28 it goes to refer to the left hand part of bar 16. Also a pedal point is established that lasts to bar 39. In bars 27 to 31 there is imitation down the octave between the bars. The bars are played in different voices changing from tenor voice to soprano. In bar 32 the accompaniment changes into triplets making the bass less static than before this and the right hand changes from the reliving of the theme to ascending broken chords. There is a dissonance here that gets resoluted in bar 33. This bar ends in a diminished chord. In bar 36 the theme refers back to the bass line of bars 16 to 19 and the left hand uses octaves and the pedal point to create a growing tension. This tension is broken two bars later in bar number 38. The Development comes to an end in an anacrusis at bar 42.

Recap starts off with 3 bars of repetition of theme A. After this the piece modulates to E major giving the recap it’s more hopeful and cheery feeling. Where the rest of the movement is written by Beethoven to be a musical representation of sadness and the different states of melancholy, the recap is an anticipative part where there is hope that you can get through sadness. In bar 51 it goes to the secondary subject and after this there is a dissonance created in bar 52 and 54. Going into the coda in bar 59 Beethoven creates tension by suspension and ending in perfect cadence.  Unlike the Mozart Beethoven does not repeat this part. Coda starts in bar 61, playing the theme in the bass clef and repeating the C# minor broken chords from the development. The movement returns to C sharp major and finishes of with a perfect cadence. Beethoven, like Mozart makes the coda’s last bar pianissimo to bring the movement to an end.

While studying these to pieces I have come to realise how complex a simple piece of music has to be in order to sound good. The change from classical to romantic period wasn’t an automatic switch but it needed composers like Mozart and Beethoven who were willing to stretch the conventions of classical music to create something new and revolutionary.

Sonata No. 14 in sharo minor- music analysis

Sonata No.14 in C sharp minor by L. van Beethoven

1^st movement: Adagio sostenuto

This piece that has gotten the nickname ‘moonlight sonata’ because of its eeriness is a revolutionary piece of music taking classical music from classical to romantic period. First directions of this piece are given that one should play this whole piece with great delicacy and sustain pedal throughout the whole of first movement.  Beethoven is deliberately trying to convey a dark and a sad feeling in this piece. This differs from Mozart who composed music for dancing and entertainment. Mozart doesn’t give nearly as much directions for the player as Beethoven does, leaving the interpretation open, this might be because unlike Mozart, Beethoven is capture a specific moment and feeling. Beethoven uses the pedal points in this first movement to create a sense of depression and sorrow. The piece is in C sharp minor and has a time signature of 2/2, which is an uncommon time for a first movement of a sonata. Like in the Mozart, the first movement is in Adagio which again uncommon since the norm for sonata form is to have an allegro to begin and after that go into a slower, but Beethoven is exploring the limits of sonata form in starting slowly and then in second movement picking the tempo up.

Exposition starts from the beginning and lasts until bar 23 which is longer than in the Mozart. Unlike in the Mozart this piece has an intro; bars 1 to 5. In the right hand you have broken chord triplet figurations while the left hand is playing the accompanying descending bass line in octaves. In bar 4 of the intro there is suspension throughout the bar and it ends in a perfect cadence and a dominant 7^th chord. Bar 5 works as a bridge between the intro and the principal theme, starting the dotted rhythm that continuous to theme. The key is changed to E major and the bar ends in an anacrusis. Theme A begins in a fanfare like motif and an inverted pedal note. This theme is carried out to the end of this movement. This simple motif is played for 5 bars and in bar 11 there is a bridge passage and after that there is a modulation to c major. Theme B of the exposition starts in bar 15, lasting 9 bars. Bars 16 has dissonance that gets resolute by the diminished chord the first beat of bar 17.

Development of this movement starts at bar 24 and is modulated into F sharp minor. It starts with repetition of the first four bars of theme A. After this in bar 28 it goes to refer to the left hand part of bar 16. Also a pedal point is established that lasts to bar 39. In bars 27 to 31 there is imitation down the octave between the bars. The bars are played in different voices changing from tenor voice to soprano. In bar 32 the accompaniment changes into triplets making the bass less static than before this and the right hand changes from the reliving of the theme to ascending broken chords. There is a dissonance here that gets resoluted in bar 33. This bar ends in a diminished chord. In bar 36 the theme refers back to the bass line of bars 16 to 19 and the left hand uses octaves and the pedal point to create a growing tension. This tension is broken two bars later in bar number 38. The Development comes to an end in an anacrusis at bar 42.

Recap starts off with 3 bars of repletion of theme A. After this the piece modulates to E major giving the recap it’s more hopeful and cheery feeling. Where the rest of the movement is written by Beethoven to be a musical representation of sadness and the different states of melancholy, the recap is an anticipative part where there is hope that you can get through sadness.

Summertime - musical analysis

Summertime by George Gershwin

George Gershwin is one of the Twentieth Century’s most revered composers. Though his life was short-lived and he died at the age of 38, no one can dispute that he had a great input on the music scene. He started working as a pianist in 1913 and became a staff composer at a publishing firm in 1917. A year after this he had written his first hit ‘’Swanee’’ which became a huge success when added to the show Sinbad a year later. Gershwin was a trailblazer combining genres and styles together. Like his jazz concerto ‘’Rhapsody in Blue’’ that fused serious and popular music. He was also the first one to get a Pulitzer Prize for a musical ‘’Of Thee I sing’’. Also as the writer of the first ever African American opera ‘’Porgy and Bess’’, that had an all-black cast and had its roots in African culture and music, he deserves the recognition as one of the most successful composers of his time. 

‘’Summertime’’ is performed in the opening act of ‘Porgy and Bess’ as a lullaby. The piece has taken a lot of influence from black folk music and is trying to replicate this swingy blues feeling of them. It is a languid and relaxed piece that creates the image of a hot summer’s night. The words to the piece are by Du Bose Heyward, the writer of the novel ‘’Porgy’’ that inspired the opera.

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

Oh, Your daddy's rich

And your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry

One of these mornings

You're going to rise up singing

Then you'll spread your wings

And you'll take to the sky

But until that morning

There's a'nothing can harm you

With your daddy and mammy standing by

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich

And your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry

The layout of the lyrics is almost syllabic, having usually a syllable per note.

There piece is in minor and uses a blues scale. The melody is common for a folk piece in that its range is only on octave. No changes in the harmony are made before the coda in bar 41, making the piece strophic. The original written key of the piece is a minor, but the key of the analysed version here is B minor. It’s played in simple time and the instructions are ‘allegro semplice’ meaning that the piece is to be played in a brisk yet simple style.  Bars 1 to 2 are in octave unison and bar 2 ends in F sharp dominant pedal. The intro of the aria starts of strongly putting down the rich and sonorous jazz feel that the piece is known for. Before the start of singing, there are The first verse starts off with an augmented dominant chord in bar 7 which repeats again in bars 23 and 25. Bars 6 and 7 also introduce the arpeggiones of the accompaniment that run through the whole piece. After this the instructions change to ‘much expression’ and the harmonic ostinato lasting from bars 8 to 11 creates a swinging feel, like rocking a baby hence giving the aria the lullaby sound. Bar 8 is also an example of parallel motion in the piece. In bar 12 there is a change in accompaniment to a harmonic expression with a rich rising pattern. This bar also holds a few chromatic embellishments that add to the relaxed blues feeling. From here on the piece says ‘poco rit’ meaning that it will gradually get slower. The bluesy feeling of the song is carried by the blues notes that are in bar 14, which gives the piece a dissonant kick to it. A chromatic descent happens from this bar to bar 15.  As the first verse is coming to its end Gershwin avoids resolution by changing to the relative D major in bars 20 to 22 and finishes the verse with the before mentioned augmented dominant chord. In bar 20 there is also a quick example of heterophony between the melody and bass line.

Melody vice the second verse is the same as the first one but in this time in the accompaniment there is a counter melody all throughout the verse until it modulates into D major again. In bar 39 there is an example of glissando in the melody, which is used quite often in the piece to give it a more soulful feel. From bar 40 there is an inverted tonic pedal that that lasts to the end of the piece. In this bar on the first beat there is an acciaccatura. The coda starts from bar 41 and in the bassline of it there is a chromatic descent of the top note of the chord from this bar to bar 43. The piece comes to an end with a perfect cadence.