...Frankly speaking, putting this work in school curriculum It’s just as pointless as an aging composer talking about enthusiastic feelings to a girl who has only recently come out of diapers and has not really learned to love, but simply to feel adequately.
Children... what will you take from them? Personally, I didn’t understand this work at the time. I wouldn’t even understand it now if I hadn’t once felt what the composer himself felt.
Some restraint, melancholy... No, no matter what. He just wanted to sob, his pain drowned out his reason so much that the future seemed devoid of meaning and - like a chimney - of any light.
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 simpler?
In fact, the “Moonlight Sonata” is not the entire Sonata No. 14, but only its first part. But this does not in any way 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, you will most likely simply fall into error. It should not be taken as independent work. Although I really want to.
What do you think about when you hear it? About what a beautiful melody it was, and what Beethoven was talented composer? Undoubtedly, all this is present.
It’s interesting that when I heard it at school during a music lesson, the teacher commented on the introduction in such a way that it seemed as if the author was more worried about his approaching deafness than about betraying his beloved.
How absurd. It’s as if the moment you see that your chosen one is leaving for someone else, 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 work as a whole. Because it becomes clear: this is not just a short composition, this is a whole story.
True art begins only where there is utmost sincerity. And for a real composer, his music becomes that very outlet, that means with which he can talk about his feelings.
Very often, victims of unhappy love believe that if their chosen one understands their true feelings, she will return. At least out of pity, if not out of love. It may be unpleasant to realize, but this is the way things are.
“Hysterical nature” - what do you think this is? It is customary to attribute a hopelessly negative connotation to this expression, as is its nature in to a greater extent the fair sex, rather than strong. Like, this is a desire to attract attention to oneself, as well as to highlight one’s feelings against the background of everything else. It sounds cynical, since it’s customary to hide your feelings. Especially at the time in which Beethoven lived.
When you actively write music year after year and put a part of yourself into it, and don’t just turn it into some kind of handicraft, you begin to feel a lot more acutely than you would like. Including loneliness. The writing of this composition began back 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 onset of falling in love?
Yes, yes, sometimes this happens! The dedication to the sonata speaks more about unrequited love than the coloring of the introduction itself. Let us repeat, 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.
Part two: Allegretto
"A flower among the abyss." This is exactly what Liszt said about the allegretto of Sonata No. 14. Someone... not just someone, but almost everyone at the beginning notes a dramatic change emotional coloring. According to the same definition, some compare the introduction to the opening of a flower, and the second part to the flowering period. Well, the flowers have already appeared.
Yes, Beethoven was thinking about Juliet while writing this composition. If you forget the chronology, you might think that this is either the grief of unrequited love (but in fact, in 1800, Ludwig was just beginning to fall in love with this girl), or reflections on his difficult 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 resided BEFORE meeting Juliet.
And in the second, as in his famous letter to a friend, he talks about the change that happened to him thanks to his acquaintance with this girl.
If we consider the Fourteenth Sonata from this point of view, then every shadow of contradiction instantly disappears, and everything becomes extremely clear and explainable.
What is so incomprehensible here?
What can we say about music critics who were perplexed about the inclusion of this very scherzo in a work that generally has an extremely melancholic undertone? Or that they were inattentive, or that they managed to live their entire lives without experiencing the whole range of feelings and in the same sequence that the composer had 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 surge of energy. What was it? Resentment that the impudent young girl did not accept his love? This can no longer be called suffering alone; in this part, bitterness, resentment and, to a much greater extent, indignation are rather intertwined. Yes, yes, exactly indignation! How could you reject his feelings?! How dare she?!!
And little by little the feelings become quieter, although by no means calmer. How offensive... But in the depths of my soul the ocean of emotions continues to rage. The composer seems to be walking back and forth around the room, overcome by conflicting emotions.
It was sharply wounded pride, outraged pride and impotent rage, which Beethoven could give vent to only in one way - in music.
Anger gradually gives way to contempt (“how could you!”), and he breaks off all relations with his beloved, who by that time was already cooing with all her might 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 they are not controlled.
He could not kill tender feelings, he could not kill love, although he sincerely wanted it. He missed his student. Even six months later I couldn’t stop thinking about her. This can be seen in his Heiligenstadt will.
Now such relationships would not be accepted by society. But then times were different and morals were different. A seventeen-year-old girl was already considered more than ripe for marriage and was even free to choose her own boyfriend.
Now she would barely graduate from school and, by default, would be considered a naive child, and Ludwig himself would be charged with “corruption of minors.” But again: times were different.
History of creation " Moonlight Sonata" L. BeethovenAt the very end of the 18th century, Ludwig van Beethoven was in his prime, he was incredibly popular, and was active social life, he could rightfully be called the idol of youth of that time. But one circumstance began to darken the composer’s life - his gradually fading hearing. “I drag out a bitter existence,” Beethoven wrote to his friend. “I am deaf. With my profession, nothing could be more terrible... Oh, if I could get rid of this disease, I would embrace the whole world.”
In 1800, Beethoven met the Guicciardi aristocrats who came 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 charge 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, frustrated, he threw the notes on the floor, pointedly turned away from the girl, and she silently collected the notebooks from the floor.
Juliet was pretty, young, sociable and flirtatious with her 30-year-old teacher. And Beethoven succumbed to her charm. “Now I am in society more often, and therefore my life has become more fun,” 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 have bright moments again, and I come to the conviction 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 thought that he would give concerts, achieve independence, and then marriage would become possible.
He spent the summer of 1801 in Hungary on 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 began to create a new sonata. The gazebo where, according to legend, Beethoven composed magical music, has survived to this day. In the homeland of the work, in Austria, it is known as “Garden House Sonata” or “Gazebo Sonata”.
Sonata started in state 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 speaking notebooks, talking with Schindler, wrote: “I was very loved by her and more than ever, I 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 finished his masterpiece in anger, rage and extreme resentment: from the first months of 1802, the flighty 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, to Juliet, Gallenberg seemed like a genius.
The composer conveys the entire storm of human emotions that was in Beethoven’s soul at that time in his sonata. This is grief, doubt, jealousy, doom, passion, hope, longing, tenderness and, of course, love.
Beethoven and Juliet separated. And even later, the composer received a letter. It was ending cruel words: “I am leaving a genius who has already won, to a genius who is still struggling 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 mental turmoil in October 1802, Beethoven left Vienna and went to Heiligenstadt, where he wrote the famous “Heiligenstadt Testament” (October 6, 1802): “Oh, you people who think that I am evil, stubborn, ill-mannered, how do you they are unfair to me; you do not know the secret reason for what seems to you. In my heart and mind, since childhood, I have been predisposed to a tender sense of kindness, I have always been ready to accomplish great things. But just think that for six years now I have been in an unfortunate state... I am completely deaf..."
Fear and the collapse of hopes give rise to thoughts of suicide in the composer. But Beethoven gathered his strength and decided to start new life and in almost absolute deafness he created great masterpieces.
In 1821, Juliet returned to Austria and came to Beethoven’s apartment. 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, tormented 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 highest?”
In the autumn of 1826, Beethoven fell ill. Grueling treatment and three complex operations could not get the composer back on his feet. All winter, without getting out of bed, completely deaf, he suffered because... 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 wardrobe drawer (as Beethoven himself titled the letter): “My angel, my everything, my self... Why is there deep sadness where necessity reigns? Can our love survive only at the cost of sacrifice by refusing completeness? Can't you change the situation in which you are not entirely mine and I am not entirely 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 kept 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 his immortal masterpiece.
“The monument of love that he wanted to create with this sonata very naturally turned into a mausoleum. For a person like Beethoven, love could not be anything other than hope beyond the grave and sorrow, spiritual mourning here on earth” (Alexander Serov, composer and music critic).
The 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 Relstab, one of Beethoven's friends, saw in the first part of the work an image of Lake Lucerne on a quiet night, with iridescence reflected from the surface moonlight. He suggested the name “Lunar”. Years will pass, and the first measured part of the work: “Adagio of Sonata No. 14 quasi una fantasia” will become known to the whole world under the name “Moonlight Sonata”.
A brilliant work by the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata).
Beethoven's Sonata, written in 1801, originally had a rather prosaic title - Piano Sonata No. 14. But in 1832, the German music critic Ludwig Rellstab compared the sonata to the Moon shining over Lake Lucerne. So this composition received the now widely known name - “Moonlight Sonata”. The composer himself was no longer alive by that time...
At the very end of the 18th century, Beethoven was in the prime of his life, he was incredibly popular, led an active social life, and he could rightfully be called the idol of the youth of that time. But one circumstance began to darken the composer’s life - his gradually fading hearing.
Suffering from an illness, Beethoven stopped going out into the world and became practically a recluse. He was overcome by physical torment: constant incurable tinnitus. In addition, the composer also experienced mental anguish due to his approaching deafness: “What will happen to me?” – he wrote to his friend.
In 1800, Beethoven met the Guicciardi aristocrats who came from Italy to Vienna. The daughter of a respectable family, sixteen-year-old Juliet, struck the composer at first sight. Soon Beethoven began giving the girl piano lessons, completely free of charge. Juliet had good musical abilities and grasped all his advice on the fly. She was pretty, young, sociable and flirtatious with her 30-year-old teacher.
Beethoven fell in love, sincerely, with all the passion of his nature. He fell in love for the first time, and his soul was full of pure joy and bright hope. He's not young! But she, it seemed to him, was perfection, and could become for him a consolation in illness, joy in everyday life and a muse in creativity. Beethoven is seriously considering marrying Juliet, because she is nice to him and encourages his feelings.
True, the composer increasingly feels helpless due to progressive hearing loss, his financial situation is unstable, he does not have a title or “blue blood” (his father is a court musician, and his mother is the daughter of a court chef), and yet Juliet is an aristocrat ! In addition, his beloved begins to give preference to Count Gallenberg.
The composer conveys the whole storm of human emotions that was in his soul at that time in the “Moonlight Sonata”. This is grief, doubt, jealousy, doom, passion, hope, longing, tenderness and, of course, love.
The strength of the feelings that he experienced during the creation of the masterpiece is shown by the events that occurred after it was written. Juliet, forgetting about Beethoven, agreed to become the wife of Count Gallenberg, who was also a mediocre composer. And, apparently deciding to play at being an adult temptress, she finally sent Beethoven a letter in which she said: “I am leaving one genius for another.” It was a brutal “double whammy” – as a man and as a musician.
The composer, in search of loneliness, torn by the feelings of a rejected lover, went to the estate of his friend Maria Erdedi. For three days and three nights he wandered through the forest. When he was found in a remote thicket, exhausted from hunger, he could not even speak...
Beethoven wrote the sonata in 1800-1801, calling it quasi una Fantasia - that is, “in the spirit of fantasy.” Its first edition dates from 1802 and is dedicated to Giulietta Guicciardi. At first it was just Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, which consisted of three movements - Adagio, Allegro and Finale. In 1832, the German poet Ludwig Relstab compared the first part to a walk on a moon-silvered lake. Years will pass, and the first measured part of the work will become a hit of all times. And, probably for the sake of convenience, “Adagio Sonata No. 14 quasi una Fantasia” will be replaced by the majority of the population simply with “Moonlight Sonata”.
Six months after writing the sonata, on October 6, 1802, Beethoven wrote the “Heiligenstadt Testament” in despair. Some Beethoven scholars believe that it was to Countess Guicciardi that the composer addressed a letter known as the letter “to the immortal beloved.” It was discovered after Beethoven's death in a hidden drawer in his wardrobe. Beethoven kept a miniature portrait of Juliet along with this letter and the Heiligenstadt Testament. The melancholy of unrequited love, the agony of hearing loss - all this was expressed by the composer in the “Moon” sonata.
This is how a great work was born: in the throes of love, tossing, ecstasy and devastation. But it was probably worth it. Beethoven later experienced a bright feeling for another woman. And Juliet, by the way, according to one version, later realized the inaccuracy of her calculations. And, realizing Beethoven’s genius, she came to him and begged him for forgiveness. However, he has not forgiven her...
"Moonlight Sonata" performed by Stephen Sharp Nelson on electric cello.
The story of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is closely connected with his biography, as well as with hearing loss. While writing my famous work experienced serious health problems, although he was at the top of his popularity. He was a welcome guest in aristocratic salons, worked a lot and was considered a fashionable musician. He already had many works to his credit, including sonatas. However, it is the essay in question that is considered one of the most successful in his work.
Meet Giulietta Guicciardi
The history of the creation of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” is directly related to this woman, since it was to her that he dedicated his new creation. She was a countess and at the time she met famous composer was at a very young age.
Together with her cousins, the girl began to take lessons from him and captivated her teacher with her cheerfulness, good nature and sociability. Beethoven fell in love with her and dreamed of marrying the young beauty. This new feeling caused a creative surge in him, and he enthusiastically began working on the work, which has now acquired cult status.
Gap
The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, in fact, repeats all the vicissitudes of this personal drama of the composer. Juliet loved her teacher, and at first it seemed that things were heading towards marriage. However, the young coquette subsequently chose a prominent count over the poor musician, whom she eventually married. This was a heavy blow for the composer, which was reflected in the second part of the work in question. It conveys pain, anger and despair, which contrasts sharply with the serene sound of the first movement. The author's depression was also aggravated by hearing loss.
Disease
The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is as dramatic as the fate of its author. He experienced serious problems due to inflammation of the auditory nerve, which led to almost complete hearing loss. He was forced to stand close to the stage in order to hear the sounds. This could not but affect his work.
Beethoven was famous for his ability to accurately select the right notes, choosing the necessary musical shades and tonality from the rich palette of the orchestra. Now it was becoming more and more difficult for him to work every day. The composer's gloomy mood was also reflected in the work under consideration, in the second part of which there is a motif of a rebellious impulse that seems to find no outlet. Undoubtedly, this theme is connected with the torment that the composer experienced when writing the melody.
Name
The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is of great importance for understanding the composer's work. Briefly about this event, we can say the following: it testifies to the impressionability of the composer, as well as how close he took this personal tragedy to his heart. Therefore, the second part of the essay is written in an angry tone, which is why many believe that the title does not correspond to the content.
However, it reminded the composer’s friend, poet and music critic Ludwig Relstab, of the image of a night lake at moonlight. The second version of the origin of the name is due to the fact that at the time in question there was a prevailing fashion for everything that was in one way or another connected with the moon, so contemporaries willingly accepted this beautiful epithet.
Further fate
The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata should be briefly considered in the context of the composer's biography, since unrequited love influenced his entire subsequent life. After breaking up with Juliet, he left Vienna and moved to the city, where he wrote his famous will. In it he poured out those bitter feelings that were reflected in his work. The composer wrote that, despite his apparent gloom and gloom, he was predisposed to kindness and tenderness. He also complained about his deafness.
The history of the creation of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” 14 helps in many ways to understand further events in his destiny. Out of despair, he almost decided to commit suicide, but in the end he pulled himself together and, being almost completely deaf, wrote his most famous works. A few years later, the lovers met again. It is significant that Juliet was the first to come to the composer.
She recalled her happy youth, complained about poverty and asked for money. Beethoven lent her a significant amount, but asked her not to meet with him again. In 1826, the maestro became seriously ill and suffered for several months, but not so much from physical pain as from the consciousness that he could not work. He died the following year, and after his death a tender letter was found dedicated to Juliet, proving that great musician retained a feeling of love for the woman who inspired him to create his most famous composition. So, one of the most prominent representatives was Ludwig Van Beethoven. “Moonlight Sonata,” the history of which was briefly discussed in this essay, is still performed on the best stages around the world.
This sonata, composed in 1801 and published in 1802, is dedicated to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular and surprisingly durable name “lunar” was assigned to the sonata on the initiative of the poet Ludwig Relstab, who compared the music of the first part of the sonata with the landscape of Lake Firvaldstät on a moonlit night.
People have repeatedly objected to such a name for the sonata. A. Rubinstein, in particular, protested energetically. “Moonlight,” he wrote, “requires in a musical image something dreamy, melancholy, thoughtful, peaceful, generally gently shining. The first movement of the cis-minor sonata is tragic from the first to the last note (the minor mode also hints at this) and thus represents a gloomy sky covered with clouds spiritual mood; the last part is stormy, passionate and, therefore, expressing something completely opposite to the gentle light. Only the small second part allows for a minute of moonlight..."
Nevertheless, the name “lunar” has remained unshakable to this day - it was justified by the possibility alone poetic word to identify a work so beloved by listeners, without resorting to indicating the opus, number and key.
It is known that the reason for composing the sonata op. 27 No. 2 was based on Beethoven’s relationship with his lover, Juliet Guicciardi. This was, apparently, Beethoven's first deep love passion, accompanied by equally deep disappointment.
Beethoven met Juliet (who came from Italy) at the end of 1800. The heyday of love dates back to 1801. Back in November of this year, Beethoven wrote to Wegeler about Juliet: “she loves me, and I love her.” But already at the beginning of 1802, Juliet inclined her sympathies to an empty man and a mediocre composer, Count Robert Gallenberg (The wedding of Juliet and Gallenberg took place on November 3, 1803).
On October 6, 1802, Beethoven wrote the famous “Heiligenstadt Testament” - a tragic document of his life, in which desperate thoughts about hearing loss are combined with the bitterness of deceived love (The further moral decline of Juliet Guicciardi, who degraded herself to debauchery and espionage, is succinctly and vividly depicted by Romain Rolland (see R. Rolland. Beethoven. Les grandes epoques creatrices. Le chant de la resurrection. Paris, 1937, pp. 570-571). ).
The object of Beethoven's passionate affection turned out to be completely unworthy. But Beethoven's genius, inspired by love, created an amazing work that unusually powerfully and generally expressed the drama of excitement and outbursts of feeling. Therefore, it would be wrong to consider Giulietta Guicciardi the heroine of the “lunar” sonata. She only seemed so to the consciousness of Beethoven, blinded by love. But in reality she turned out to be just a model, exalted by the work of the great artist.
Over the 210 years of its existence, the “moon” sonata has aroused and continues to arouse the delight of musicians and everyone who loves music. This sonata, in particular, was extremely appreciated by Chopin and Liszt (the latter gained special fame for its brilliant performance). Even Berlioz, generally speaking, is rather indifferent to piano music, found in the first part of the lunar sonata poetry inexpressible in human words.
In Russia, the “moonlight” sonata has invariably enjoyed and continues to enjoy the warmest recognition and love. When Lenz, having begun to evaluate the "moon" sonata, pays tribute to the many lyrical digressions and memories, in this one senses the critic’s unusual agitation, which prevents him from concentrating on analyzing the subject.
Ulybyshev ranks the “moon” sonata among the works marked with the “seal of immortality”, possessing “the rarest and most beautiful of privileges - the privilege to be equally liked by initiates and profane people, liked as long as there are ears to hear and hearts to love and suffer".
Serov called the “moonlight” sonata “one of the most inspired sonatas” of Beethoven.
Characteristic are V. Stasov’s memories of his youth, when he and Serov enthusiastically perceived Liszt’s performance of the “moon” sonata. “This was,” writes Stasov in his memoirs “The School of Law Forty Years Ago,” “the same “dramatic music” that Serov and I most dreamed about in those days and constantly exchanged thoughts in our correspondence, considering it that form , into which all music must finally turn. It seemed to me that in this sonata there is whole line scenes, tragic drama: “in the 1st part - dreamy, meek love and a state of mind, at times filled with gloomy forebodings; further, in the second part (in Scherzo) - a calmer, even playful state of mind is depicted - hope is reborn; finally, in the third part, despair and jealousy rage, and it all ends with a blow of a dagger and death).”
Stasov experienced similar impressions from the “moon” sonata later, listening to A. Rubinstein play: “...suddenly quiet, important sounds rushed up, as if from some invisible spiritual depths, from afar, from afar. Some were sad, full of endless sadness, others were thoughtful, cramped memories, premonitions of terrible expectations... I was infinitely happy in those moments and only remembered how 47 years earlier, in 1842, I heard this greatest sonata performed Liszt, in his III St. Petersburg concert... and now, after so many years, I again see a new brilliant musician and again hear this great sonata, this wonderful drama, with love, jealousy and a menacing blow of a dagger at the end - again I am happy and drunk on music and poetry."
The “Moonlight” sonata was also included in the Russian fiction. So, for example, this sonata is played at a time of cordial relations with her husband by the heroine of Leo Tolstoy’s “Family Happiness” (chapters I and IX).
Naturally, the inspired researcher devoted quite a few statements to the “moon” sonata spiritual world and the works of Beethoven - Romain Rolland.
Romain Rolland aptly characterizes the circle of images in the sonata, linking them with Beethoven’s early disappointment in Juliet: “The illusion did not last long, and already in the sonata one can see more suffering and anger than love.” Calling the “moonlight” sonata “gloomy and fiery,” Romain Rolland very correctly deduces its form from its content, shows that freedom is combined in the sonata with harmony, that “a miracle of art and heart - feeling manifests itself here as a powerful builder. The unity that the artist does not seek in the architectural laws of a given passage or musical genre, he finds in the laws of his own passion.” Let us add - and in knowledge on personal experience laws of passionate experiences in general.
In realistic psychologism, the “moon” sonata is the most important reason for its popularity. And, of course, B.V. Asafiev was right, when he wrote: “The emotional tone of this sonata is filled with strength and romantic pathos. The music, nervous and excited, either flares up with a bright flame, then sank into painful despair. The melody sings while crying. The deep warmth inherent in the sonata described makes it one of the most beloved and accessible. It’s hard not to be influenced by such sincere music, an expression of immediate feeling.”
The “Moon” Sonata is a brilliant proof of the position of aesthetics that form is subordinate to content, that content creates and crystallizes form. The power of experience gives rise to the persuasiveness of logic. And it is not without reason that in the “moon” sonata Beethoven achieves a brilliant synthesis of those most important factors that appear more isolated in previous sonatas. These factors are: 1) deep drama, 2) thematic integrity and 3) continuity of development of “action” from the first part to the final inclusive (crescendo of form).
First part(Adagio sostenuto, cis-moll) is written in a special form. The two-part nature is complicated here by the introduction of developed elements of development and extensive preparation of the reprise. All this partly brings the form of this Adagio closer to sonata form.
In the music of the first movement, Ulybyshev saw the “heartbreaking sadness” of lonely love, like “fire without food.” Romain Rolland is also inclined to interpret the first part in the spirit of melancholy, complaints and sobs.
We think that such an interpretation is one-sided, and that Stasov was much more right (see above).
The music of the first movement is emotionally rich. There is calm contemplation, sadness, moments of bright faith, sorrowful doubts, restrained impulses, and heavy forebodings. All this is brilliantly expressed by Beethoven within the general boundaries of concentrated thought. This is the beginning of every deep and demanding feeling - it hopes, worries, tremblingly delves into its own completeness, into the power of experience over the soul. Self-confidence and excited thought about how to be, what to do.
Beethoven finds extraordinary means of expression implementation of such a plan.
Constant triplets of harmonic tones are designed to convey that sound background of monotonous external impressions that envelops the thoughts and feelings of a deeply thoughtful person.
There can hardly be any doubt that a passionate admirer of nature, Beethoven, and here, in the first part of the “lunar” movement, gave images of his spiritual unrest against the backdrop of a quiet, calm, monotonously sounding landscape. Therefore, the music of the first movement is easily associated with the nocturne genre (apparently, there was already an understanding of the special poetic qualities of the night, when silence deepens and sharpens the ability to dream!).
The very first bars of the “moonlight” sonata are very shining example"organism" of Beethoven's pianism. But this is not a church organ, but an organ of nature, the full, solemn sounds of its peaceful womb.
Harmony sings from the very beginning - this is the secret of the exceptional intonational unity of all music. The appearance of quiet, hidden G-sharp(“romantic” fifth of the tonic!) in the right hand (vol. 5-6) - a superbly found intonation of a persistent, persistent thought. From it grows a tender song (vol. 7-9), leading to E major. But this bright dream is short-lived - from volume 10 (E minor) the music becomes dark again.
However, elements of will and ripening determination begin to creep into her. They, in turn, disappear with the turn to B minor (m. 15), where the accents then stand out do-bekara(vt. 16 and 18), like a timid request.
The music died down, but only to rise again. Carrying out the theme in F sharp minor (from t. 23) - new stage. The element of will grows stronger, the emotion becomes stronger and more courageous - but then new doubts and reflections stand in its way. This is the entire period of the organ octave point G-sharp in the bass, leading to a reprise in C sharp minor. At this organ point, the soft accents of the quarter notes are first heard (bars 28-32). Then the thematic element temporarily disappears: the former harmonic background came to the fore - as if there was confusion in the harmonious train of thoughts, and their thread was broken. Balance is gradually restored, and the reprise of C sharp minor indicates the persistence, constancy, and insurmountability of the initial circle of experiences.
So, in the first movement of the Adagio, Beethoven gives a whole range of shades and tendencies of the main emotion. Changes in harmonic colors, register contrasts, compression and expansion rhythmically contribute to the convexity of all these shades and tendencies.
In the second part of Adagio, the circle of images is the same, but the stage of development is different. E major is now held longer (bars 46-48), and the appearance of a characteristic punctuated figure of the theme in it seems to promise bright hope. The presentation as a whole is dynamically compressed. If at the beginning of the Adagio the melody needed twenty-two bars to rise from G sharp of the first octave to E of the second octave, now, in the reprise, the melody covers this distance in just seven bars. This acceleration in the pace of development is accompanied by the emergence of new volitional elements of intonation. But the outcome has not been found, and cannot, should not be found (after all, this is only the first part!). The coda, with its sound of persistent punctuated figures in the bass, with immersion in the low register, in a dull and vague pianissimo, sets off indecision and mystery. The feeling has realized its depth and inevitability - but it faces the fact in bewilderment and must turn externally in order to overcome contemplation.
It is precisely this “turning outward” that gives The second part(Allegretto, Des-dur).
Liszt characterized this piece as “a flower between two abysses” - a poetically brilliant comparison, but still superficial!
Nagel saw in the second part “a picture real life fluttering charming images around the dreamer.” This, I think, is closer to the truth, but not enough to understand the plot core of the sonata.
Romain Rolland refrains from providing a more precise description of Allegretto and confines himself to the words that “everyone can accurately assess the desired effect achieved by this small picture, placed precisely in this place of the work. This playing, smiling grace must inevitably cause, and indeed does cause, an increase in grief; its appearance turns the soul, initially weeping and depressed, into a fury of passion.”
We saw above that Romain Rolland boldly tried to interpret the previous sonata (the first from the same opus) as a portrait of the Princess of Liechtenstein. It's not clear why he's in in this case refrains from the naturally suggestive thought that the Allegretto of the “lunar” sonata is directly related to the image of Giulietta Guicciardi.
Having accepted this possibility (it seems natural to us), we will understand the intention of the entire sonata opus - that is, both sonatas with the common subtitle “quasi una Fantasia”. Drawing the secular superficiality of the spiritual appearance of the Princess of Liechtenstein, Beethoven ends with the tearing off of secular masks and the loud laughter of the finale. In the “lunar” one this fails, since love has deeply wounded the heart.
But thought and will do not give up their positions. In Allegretto, the “lunar” is created extremely lifestyle, combining charm with frivolity, apparent cordiality with indifferent coquetry. Liszt also noted the extreme difficulty of performing this part perfectly due to its extreme rhythmic capriciousness. In fact, already the first four measures contain a contrast of intonations of affectionate and mocking. And then - continuous emotional turns, as if teasing and not bringing the desired satisfaction.
The tense anticipation of the end of the first part of Adagio gives way to a fall of the veil. And what? The soul is in the grip of charm, but at the same time, every moment it realizes its fragility and deceptiveness.
When, after the inspired, gloomy song of Adagio sostenuto, the gracefully capricious figures of Allegretto sound, it is difficult to get rid of an ambivalent feeling. Graceful music attracts, but at the same time seems unworthy of what has just been experienced. In this contrast lies the stunning genius of Beethoven's design and execution. A few words about the place of Allegretto in the structure of the whole. This is in essence slow scherzo, and its purpose, among other things, is to serve as a link in the three phases of the movement, a transition from the slow meditation of the first movement to the storm of the finale.
The final(Presto agitato, cis-moll) has long caused surprise with the uncontrollable energy of his emotions. Lenz compared it “to a stream of burning lava,” Ulybyshev called it “a masterpiece of ardent expressiveness.”
Romain Rolland speaks of the “immortal explosion of the final presto agitato”, of the “wild night storm”, of the “giant picture of the soul”.
The finale extremely strongly completes the “moonlight” sonata, giving not a decrease (as even in the “pathetic” sonata), but a great increase in tension and drama.
It is not difficult to notice the close intonation connections of the finale with the first part - they are in the special role of active harmonic figurations (the background of the first part, both themes of the finale), in the ostinato nature of the rhythmic background. But the contrast of emotions is maximum.
Nothing equaling the scope of these seething waves of arpeggias with loud blows at the tops of their crests can be found in Beethoven's earlier sonatas - not to mention Haydn or Mozart.
The entire first theme of the finale is an image of that extreme degree of excitement when a person is completely unable to reason, when he does not even distinguish between the boundaries of the external and internal world. Therefore, there is no clearly defined thematicism, but only an uncontrollable boiling and explosions of passions, capable of the most unexpected antics (Romain Rolland’s definition is apt, according to which in verses 9-14 - “fury, embittered and as if stamping its feet”). Fermata vol. 14 is very true: this is how a person suddenly stops for a moment in his impulse, only to then surrender to it again.
Side party (vol. 21 etc.) - a new phase. The rumble of sixteenth notes went into the bass, became the background, and the theme right hand indicates the emergence of a strong-willed principle.
More than once it has been said and written about the historical connections of Beethoven's music with the music of his immediate predecessors. These connections are completely undeniable. But here is an example of how an innovative artist rethinks tradition. The following excerpt from the side game of the “lunar” final:
in its “context” it expresses swiftness and determination. Isn’t it indicative to compare with it the intonations of Haydn and Mozart’s sonatas, which are similar in turns but different in character (example 51 - from the second part of Haydn’s sonata Es-dur; example 52 - from the first part of Mozart’s sonata C-dur; example 53 - from the first part Mozart sonatas in B major) (Haydn here (as in a number of other cases) is closer to Beethoven, more straightforward; Mozart is more gallant.):
This is the constant rethinking of the intonation traditions widely used by Beethoven.
The further development of the side party strengthens the strong-willed, organizing element. True, in the blows of sustained chords and in the running of rotating scales (vol. 33, etc.), passion again runs rampant. However, a preliminary outcome is planned in the final game.
The first section of the final part (bars 43-56) with its hammered eighth-note rhythm (which replaced the sixteenth-note notes) (Romain Rolland very rightly points out the mistake of the publishers, who replaced (contrary to the author’s instructions) here, as well as in the bass accompaniment of the beginning of the movement, the accent marks with dots (R. Rolland, volume 7, pp. 125-126).) full of uncontrollable impulse (this is the determination of passion). And in the second section (vol. 57 etc.) an element of sublime reconciliation appears (in the melody there is a fifth of the tonic, which also dominated the punctuated group of the first part!). At the same time, the returning rhythmic background of sixteenth notes maintains the necessary tempo of movement (which would inevitably fall if it calmed down against the background of eighth notes).
It should be especially noted that the end of the exposure directly (activation of the background, modulation) flows into its repetition, and secondarily into development. This is an essential point. In none of the earlier sonata allegro in Beethoven's piano sonatas is there such a dynamic and direct merging of exposition with development, although in some places there are prerequisites, “outlines” of such continuity. If the first parts of sonatas Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 (as well as the last parts of sonatas Nos. 5 and 6 and the second part of sonata No. 11) are completely “fenced off” from further exposition, then in In the first parts of sonatas Nos. 7, 8, 9, close, direct connections between expositions and developments are already outlined (although the dynamics of transition characteristic of the third part of the “moon” sonata are absent everywhere). Turning for comparison to parts of the keyboard sonatas of Haydn and Mozart (written in sonata form), we will see that there the “fencing off” of the exposition by cadence from the subsequent one is a strict law, and isolated cases of its violation are dynamically neutral. Thus, one cannot help but recognize Beethoven as an innovator on the path of dynamically overcoming the “absolute” boundaries of exhibition and development; this important innovative tendency is confirmed by the later sonatas.
In developing the finale, along with varying the previous elements, new expressive factors play a role. Thus, playing a side game in the left hand acquires, due to the lengthening of the thematic period, features of slowness and prudence. The music of the descending sequences at the organ point of the dominant C sharp minor at the end of the development is also deliberately restrained. All these are subtle psychological details that paint a picture of passion that seeks rational restraint. However, after completing the development of the pianissimo chords, the start of the reprise strikes (This unexpected “blow,” again, is innovative. Later, Beethoven achieved even more stunning dynamic contrasts - in the first and last movements of the “appassionata.”) proclaims that all such attempts are deceptive.
Compressing the first section of the reprise (to a side part) speeds up the action and creates the precondition for further expansion.
It is indicative to compare the intonations of the first section of the final part of the reprise (from t. 137 - continuous movement of eighth notes) with the corresponding section of the exposition. In vols. 49-56 the movements of the upper voice of the eighth group are directed first down and then up. In vols. 143-150 movements first give fractures (down - up, down - up), and then fall off. This gives the music a more dramatic character than before. The calming of the second section of the final part does not, however, complete the sonata.
The return of the first theme (coda) expresses the indestructibility and constancy of passion, and in the hum of the thirty-second passages ascending and freezing on chords (vol. 163-166) its paroxysm is given. But this is not all.
A new wave, starting with a quiet side part in the bass and leading to stormy peals of arpeggias (three types of subdominant are preparing a cadence!), ends in a trill, a short cadence (It is curious that the turns of the falling passages of the cadence of eighth notes after the trill (before the two-bar Adagio) are almost literally reproduced in Chopin’s fantasy-impromptu cis-moll. By the way, these two pieces (the “lunar” finale and the fantasy-impromptu) can serve as comparative examples of two historical stages of development musical thinking. Melodic lines The “lunar” finale is the strict lines of harmonic figuration. Melodic lines of fantasy-impromptu - lines of ornamental play on triads with secondary chromatic tones. But in the indicated passage of the cadenza, the historical connection between Beethoven and Chopin is outlined. Beethoven himself later paid generous tribute to such plays.) and two deep octaves of bass (Adagio). This is the exhaustion of passion that has reached higher limits. In the final tempo I there is an echo of a futile attempt to find reconciliation. The subsequent avalanche of arpeggias only says that the spirit is alive and powerful, despite all the painful trials (Later, Beethoven used this extremely expressive innovation even more clearly in the coda of the “appassionata” finale. Chopin tragically rethought this technique in the coda of the fourth ballad.).
The figurative meaning of the finale of the “moon” sonata is in a grandiose battle of emotion and will, in the great anger of the soul, which fails to master its passions. Not a trace remained of the enthusiastic and anxious dreaminess of the first part and the deceptive illusions of the second. But passion and suffering pierced my soul with a force never before known.
The final victory has not yet been achieved. In a wild battle, emotions and will, passion and reason are closely, inextricably intertwined with each other. And the final code does not provide a resolution; it only confirms the continuation of the struggle.
But if victory is not achieved in the final, then there is no bitterness, no reconciliation. The hero’s grandiose strength and powerful individuality appear in the very impetuosity and irrepressibility of his experiences. In the “moonlight” sonata, both the theatricality of the “pathetic” and the external heroics of the sonata op. are overcome and left behind. 22. The enormous step of the “moonlight” sonata towards the deepest humanity, towards the highest truthfulness of musical images determined its landmark significance.
All music quotations are given according to the edition: Beethoven. Sonatas for piano. M., Muzgiz, 1946 (edited by F. Lamond), in two volumes. The numbering of measures is also given according to this edition.