The history of the creation of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata": a brief overview. The history of the creation of the “moonlight sonata” Who called the sonata the moonlight

Ludwig van Beethoven. Moonlight Sonata. Sonata of love or...

Sonata cis-moll(Op. 27 No. 2) is one of Beethoven's most popular piano sonatas; perhaps the most famous piano sonata in the world and the favorite work for home music playing. For more than two centuries it has been taught, played, softened, tamed - just as in all centuries people have tried to soften and tame death.

Boat on the waves

The name “Lunar” does not belong to Beethoven - it was introduced into circulation after the composer’s death by Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Relstab (1799–1860), a German music critic, poet and librettist, who left a number of notes in the master’s conversation notebooks. Relshtab compared the images of the first movement of the sonata to the movement of a boat sailing under the moon along Lake Vierwaldstedt in Switzerland.

Ludwig van Beethoven. Portrait painted in the second half of the 19th century

Ludwig Relstab
(1799 - 1860)
German novelist, playwright and music critic

K. Friedrich. Monastery cemetery in the snow (1819)
National Gallery, Berlin

Switzerland. Lake Vierwaldstedt

Beethoven's different works have many names, which are usually understood only in one country. But the adjective “lunar” in relation to this sonata has become international. The lightweight salon title touched the depths of the image from which the music grew. Beethoven himself, who tended to give parts of his works slightly ponderous definitions in Italian, called his two sonatas Op. 27 No. 1 and 2 - quasi una fantasia- “something like a fantasy.”

Legend

The romantic tradition connects the emergence of the sonata with the composer’s next love interest - his student, young Giulietta Guicciardi (1784–1856), cousin of Theresa and Josephine Brunswick, two sisters with whom the composer was in turn attracted at different periods of his life (Beethoven, like Mozart, had a tendency to fall in love with entire families).

Juliet Guicciardi

Teresa Brunswick. Beethoven's faithful friend and student

Dorothea Ertman
German pianist, one of the best performers of Beethoven's works
Ertman was famous for her performances of Beethoven's works. The composer dedicated Sonata No. 28 to her

The romantic legend includes four points: Beethoven's passion, playing a sonata under the moon, a marriage proposal rejected by heartless parents due to class prejudices, and, finally, the marriage of a frivolous Viennese, who preferred a rich young aristocrat to the great composer.

Alas, there is nothing to confirm that Beethoven ever proposed to his student (as he, with a high degree of probability, later proposed to Teresa Malfatti, the cousin of his attending physician). There is not even evidence that Beethoven was seriously in love with Juliet. He didn’t tell anyone about his feelings (just as he didn’t talk about his other loves). The portrait of Giulietta Guicciardi was found after the composer's death in a locked box along with other valuable documents - but... in the secret box were several portraits of women.

And finally, Juliet married Count Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg, an elderly ballet composer and musical theater archivist, only a couple of years after the creation of the op. 27 No. 2 - in 1803.

Whether the girl with whom Beethoven was once infatuated was happy in marriage is another question. Before his death, the deaf composer wrote down in one of his conversation notebooks that some time ago Juliet wanted to meet him, she even “cried,” but he refused her.

Caspar David Friedrich. Woman and sunset (Sunset, sunrise, woman in the morning sun)

Beethoven did not push away the women with whom he was once in love, he even wrote to them...

The first page of a letter to the “immortal beloved”

Perhaps in 1801, the hot-tempered composer quarreled with his student over some trifle (as happened, for example, with the violinist Bridgetower, the performer of the Kreutzer Sonata), and even many years later he was ashamed to remember it.

Secrets of the heart

If Beethoven suffered in 1801, it was not at all from unhappy love. At this time, he first told his friends that he had been struggling with impending deafness for three years. On June 1, 1801, his friend, violinist and theologian Karl Amenda (1771–1836) received a desperate letter. (5) , to which Beethoven dedicated his beautiful string quartet op. 18 F major. On June 29, Beethoven informed another friend, Franz Gerhard Wegeler, about his illness: “For two years now I have almost avoided any society, since I cannot tell people: “I am deaf!”

Church in the village of Geiligenstadt

In 1802, in Heiligenstadt (a resort suburb of Vienna), he wrote his stunning will: “O you people who consider or declare me embittered, stubborn or a misanthrope, how unfair you are to me” - this is how this famous document begins.

The image of the “Moonlight” sonata grew through heavy thoughts and sad thoughts.

The moon in the romantic poetry of Beethoven's time is an ominous, gloomy luminary. Only decades later, her image in salon poetry acquired elegance and began to “brighten.” The epithet “lunar” in relation to a piece of music from the late 18th – early 19th centuries. can mean irrationality, cruelty and gloom.

No matter how beautiful the legend of unhappy love is, it is difficult to believe that Beethoven could dedicate such a sonata to his beloved girl.

For the “Moonlight” sonata is a sonata about death.

Key

The key to the mysterious triplets of the “Moonlight” sonata, which open the first movement, was discovered by Theodor Visev and Georges de Saint-Foy in their famous work on Mozart’s music. These triplets, which today any child admitted to his parents' piano enthusiastically tries to play, go back to the immortal image created by Mozart in his opera Don Giovanni (1787). Mozart's masterpiece, which Beethoven resented and admired, begins with a senseless murder in the dark of night. In the silence that followed the explosion in the orchestra, three voices emerge one after another on quiet and deep string triplets: the trembling voice of the dying man, the intermittent voice of his killer and the muttering of the numb servant.

With this detached triplet movement, Mozart created the effect of life flowing away, floating away into the darkness, when the body is already numb, and the measured sway of Lethe carries away the fading consciousness on its waves.

In Mozart, the monotonous accompaniment of the strings is superimposed with a chromatic mournful melody in the wind instruments and singing - albeit intermittently - male voices.

In Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, what should have been an accompaniment drowned out and dissolved the melody - the voice of individuality. The upper voice floating above them (the coherence of which is sometimes the main difficulty for the performer) is almost no longer a melody. This is the illusion of a melody that you can grab onto as your last hope.

On the verge of goodbye

In the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven transposes Mozart's death triplets, which had sunk into his memory, a semitone lower - into a more reverent and romantic C sharp minor. This will be an important key for him - in it he will write his last and great quartet cis-moll.

The endless triads of the “Moonlight” Sonata, flowing into one another, have neither end nor beginning. Beethoven reproduced with amazing accuracy that feeling of melancholy that is evoked by the endless play of scales and triads behind the wall - sounds that, with their endless repetition, can take away the music from a person. But Beethoven raises all this boring nonsense to a generalization of the cosmic order. Before us is musical fabric in its purest form.

By the beginning of the twentieth century. and other arts approached the level of this discovery of Beethoven: thus, artists made pure color the hero of their canvases.

What the composer does in his work of 1801 is strikingly consonant with the search of the late Beethoven, with his last sonatas, in which, according to Thomas Mann, “the sonata itself as a genre ends, comes to an end: it has fulfilled its purpose, achieved its goal , there is no further path, and she dissolves, overcomes herself as a form, says goodbye to the world.”

“Death is nothing,” Beethoven himself said, “you live only in the most beautiful moments. What is genuine, what really exists in a person, what is inherent in him, is eternal. What is transitory is worthless. Life acquires beauty and significance only thanks to fantasy, this flower, which only there, in the sky-high heights, blooms magnificently...”

The second movement of the “Moon” Sonata, which Franz Liszt called “a fragrant flower that grew between two abysses - the abyss of sadness and the abyss of despair,” is a flirtatious allegretto, similar to a light interlude. The third part was compared by the composer's contemporaries, accustomed to thinking in images of romantic painting, to a night storm on a lake. Four waves of sound rise up one after another, each ending with two sharp blows, as if the waves hit a rock.

The musical form itself is bursting out, trying to break the boundaries of the old form, splashing out over the edge - but it retreats.

The time has not yet come.

Text: Svetlana Kirillova, Art magazine

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 illness, Beethoven stopped going out 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 back to 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 - the composer expressed all this 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.

L. Beethoven “Moonlight Sonata”

Today there is hardly a person who has never heard the “Moonlight Sonata” Ludwig van Beethoven , because this is one of the most famous and beloved works in the history of musical culture. Such a beautiful and poetic name was given to the work by music critic Ludwig Relstab after the composer’s death. And to be more precise, not the entire work, but only its first part.

History of creation "Moonlight Sonata" Read Beethoven, the contents of the work and many interesting facts on our page.

History of creation

If about another of Beethoven's most popular works bagatelles Difficulties arise when trying to find out who exactly it was dedicated to, then everything is extremely simple. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, written in 1800-1801, was dedicated to Giulietta Guicciardi. The maestro was in love with her and dreamed of marriage.

It is worth noting that during this period the composer began to increasingly experience hearing impairment, but he was still popular in Vienna and continued to give lessons in aristocratic circles. He first wrote about this girl, his student, “who loves me and is loved by me,” in November 1801 to Franz Wegeler. 17-year-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi and met at the end of 1800. Beethoven taught her the art of music, and did not even take money for it. In gratitude, the girl embroidered shirts for him. It seemed that happiness awaited them, because their feelings were mutual. However, Beethoven’s plans were not destined to come true: the young countess preferred him to a more noble man, the composer Wenzel Gallenberg.

The loss of his beloved woman, increasing deafness, collapsed creative plans - all this fell on the unfortunate Beethoven. And the sonata, which the composer began to write in an atmosphere of inspiring happiness and trembling hope, ended with anger and rage.

It is known that it was in 1802 that the composer wrote the very “Heiligenstadt Testament”. This document brings together desperate thoughts about impending deafness and unrequited, deceived love.

Surprisingly, the name “Moonlight” was firmly attached to the sonata thanks to the Berlin poet, who compared the first part of the work with the beautiful landscape of Lake Firwaldstätt on a moonlit night. It’s curious, but many composers and music critics opposed this name. A. Rubinstein noted that the first part of the sonata is deeply tragic and most likely shows the sky with thick clouds, but not moonlight, which in theory should express dreams and tenderness. Only the second part of the work can, with a stretch, be called moonlight. Critic Alexander Maikapar said that the sonata does not have that same “lunar glow” that Relshtab spoke about. Moreover, he agreed with Hector Berlioz’s statement that the first part most resembles a “sunny day” rather than night. Despite the protests of critics, it was this name that stuck with the work.

The composer himself gave his work the title “sonata in the spirit of fantasy.” This is due to the fact that the usual form for this work was broken and the parts changed their sequence. Instead of the usual “fast-slow-fast”, the sonata develops from a slow part to a more mobile one.

Interesting Facts

• It is known that only two titles of Beethoven’s sonatas belong to the composer himself - these are “ Pathetic " and "Farewell".
• The author himself noted that the first part of “Lunar” requires the most delicate performance from the musician.
• The second part of the sonata is usually compared to the dances of the elves from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• All three movements of the sonata are united by the finest motivic work: the second motive of the main theme from the first movement sounds in the first theme of the second movement. In addition, many of the most expressive elements from the first part were reflected and developed in the third.
• It is curious that there are many options for the plot interpretation of the sonata. The image of the Relshtab received the greatest popularity.
• In addition, one American jewelry company has released a stunning necklace made of natural pearls, called the “Moonlight Sonata”. How do you like coffee with such a poetic name? A well-known foreign company offers it to its visitors. And finally, even animals are sometimes given such nicknames. Thus, a stallion bred in America received such an unusual and beautiful nickname as “Moonlight Sonata”.

• Some researchers of his work believe that in this work Beethoven anticipated the later work of Romantic composers and call the sonata the first nocturne.
• Famous composer Franz Liszt called the second part of the sonata “A flower among the abyss.” Indeed, some listeners think that the introduction is very similar to a barely opened bud, and the second part is the flowering itself.
• The name “Moonlight Sonata” was so popular that it was sometimes applied to things completely remote from music. For example, this phrase, familiar and familiar to every musician, was the code word for the air raid in 1945 carried out on Coventry (England) by the German invaders.

In the “Moonlight” Sonata, all the features of composition and dramaturgy depend on the poetic intent. At the center of the work is a spiritual drama, under the influence of which the mood changes from mournful self-absorption, thoughts constrained by sadness, to violent activity. It is in the finale that that same open conflict arises; in fact, to show it, it was necessary to rearrange parts in order to enhance the effect and drama.

First part– lyrical, it is completely focused on the feelings and thoughts of the composer. Researchers note that the manner in which Beethoven reveals this tragic image brings this part of the sonata closer to Bach’s chorale preludes. Listen to the first part, what image did Beethoven want to convey to the public? Of course, the lyrics, but they are not light, but slightly tinged with sorrow. Maybe these are the composer’s thoughts about his unfulfilled feelings? It’s as if listeners are momentarily immersed in another person’s dream world.

The first part is presented in a prelude-improvisational manner. It is noteworthy that in this entire part only one image dominates, but it is so strong and laconic that it does not require any explanation, only concentration on itself. The main melody can be called sharply expressive. It may seem that it is quite simple, but it is not. The melody is complex in intonation. It is noteworthy that this version of the first part is very different from all his other first parts, since there are no sharp contrasts, transitions, only a calm and leisurely flow of thought.

However, let’s return to the image of the first part; its mournful detachment is only a temporary state. Incredibly intense harmonic movement, renewal of the melody itself speaks of an active inner life. How could Beethoven be in a state of grief and reminisce for so long? The rebellious spirit must still make itself felt and throw out all the raging feelings outward.

The next part is quite small and is built on light intonations, as well as the play of light and shadow. What's behind this music? Perhaps the composer wanted to talk about the changes that took place in his life thanks to meeting a beautiful girl. Without a doubt, during this period of true love, sincere and bright, the composer was happy. But this happiness did not last long at all, because the second part of the sonata is perceived as a short respite in order to enhance the effect of the finale, which burst in with all its storm of feelings. It is in this part that the intensity of emotions is incredibly high. It is noteworthy that the thematic material of the finale is indirectly connected with the first part. What emotions does this music evoke? Of course, there is no more suffering and sorrow here. This is an explosion of anger that covers all other emotions and feelings. Only at the very end, in the coda, all the drama experienced is pushed deeper into the depths by an incredible effort of will. And this is already very similar to Beethoven himself. In a swift, passionate impulse, menacing, plaintive, excited intonations rush through. The whole spectrum of emotions of the human soul that has experienced such a severe shock. It’s safe to say that a real drama is unfolding before the listeners.

Interpretations

Throughout its existence, the sonata has always aroused constant delight not only among listeners, but also among performers. She was highly valued by such famous musicians as Chopin , Leaf, Berlioz . Many music critics characterize the sonata as “one of the most inspired”, possessing “the rarest and most beautiful of privileges - to please the initiated and the profane.” It is not surprising that throughout its existence, many interpretations and unusual performances have appeared.

Thus, the famous guitarist Marcel Robinson created an arrangement for guitar. The arrangement gained great popularity Glenn Miller for jazz orchestra.

“Moonlight Sonata” in a modern arrangement by Glenn Miller (listen)

Moreover, the 14th sonata entered Russian fiction thanks to Leo Tolstoy (“Family Happiness”). Such famous critics as Stasov and Serov studied it. Romain Rolland also dedicated many inspired statements to her while studying Beethoven's work. What do you think of the representation of the sonata in sculpture? This also turned out to be possible thanks to the work of Paul Bloch, who presented his marble sculpture of the same name in 1995. The work was also reflected in painting, thanks to the work of Ralph Harris Houston and his painting “Moonlight Sonata”.

The final " Moonlight Sonata" - the raging ocean of emotions in the soul of the composer - we will listen. For starters, the original sound of the work performed by the German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. Just look how Beethoven’s wounded pride and impotent rage are embodied in the passages rapidly soaring up the piano keyboard...

Video: listen to “Moonlight Sonata”

Now imagine for a moment if you lived today and chose another musical instrument to recreate these emotions. Which one, you ask? The same one who today is the leader in the embodiment of emotionally heavy music, overflowing with emotions and seething with passions - the electric guitar. After all, no other instrument can so vividly and accurately depict a swift hurricane, sweeping away all feelings and memories in its path. What would come of this - see for yourself.

Modern guitar processing

Without a doubt, Beethoven's is one of the composer's most popular works. Moreover, it is one of the brightest compositions of all world music. All three parts of this work are an inextricable feeling that grows to a real menacing storm. The characters of this drama, as well as their feelings, are alive to this day, thanks to this wonderful music and immortal work of art created by one of the greatest composers.

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 cloud-covered sky - a gloomy 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 of using one poetic word to designate a work so beloved by listeners, without resorting to indicating the opus, number and tonality.

It is known that the reason for composing the sonata op. 27 No. 2 was served by 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, rather indifferent to piano music, found poetry inexpressible in human words in the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata.

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 many lyrical digressions and memories, the critic’s unusual agitation is felt in this, preventing him from concentrating on the analysis of 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 this sonata contains a whole series of scenes, a tragic drama: “in the 1st movement - 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 also entered 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 of the spiritual world and work of Beethoven, Romain Rolland, dedicated quite a few statements to the “moon” sonata.

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 architectonic laws of a given passage or musical genre, he finds in the laws of his own passion.” Let us add - and in knowledge from personal experience of the laws of passionate experiences in general.

In realistic psychologism, the “moon” sonata is the most important reason for its popularity. And B.V. Asafiev was right, of course, when he wrote: “The emotional tone of this sonata is filled with strength and romantic pathos. The music, nervous and excited, then 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 unusually expressive means of realizing 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 Beethoven, a passionate admirer of nature, even 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 a very striking example of the “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) is a 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 in 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 of real life fluttering with 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 is not clear why in this case he refrains from the naturally suggestive idea 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 Princess 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” one created an extremely life-like image, 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 ends the “moonlight” sonata extremely strongly, 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 v. 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 roar of the sixteenth notes went into the bass and became the background, and the theme of the right hand indicates the emergence of a strong-willed principle.

It has been said and written more than once 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 strikes of sustained chords and in the running of rotating scales (vol. 33, etc.), passion again runs rampant. However, in the final game a preliminary denouement is planned.

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 - the 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 in nature. 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.

The new wave, which begins with a quiet side part in the bass and leads to stormy peals of arpeggias (three types of subdominants 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 the development of musical thinking. The melodic lines of the finale of the “lunar” are strict lines of harmonic figuration. The melodic lines of fantasy-impromptu are lines of ornamental play on triads with secondary chromatic tones. But in the indicated passage of the cadenza, Beethoven himself later pays a generous tribute. similar plays.) and two deep octaves of bass (Adagio). This is the exhaustion of passion that has reached its highest 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.