The Truth About The Moonlight Sonata

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0:00 Introduction: one of the most famous pieces in the world
0:37 Things about the piece that are not so familiar
1:14 The historical context
1:55 The ’sacred tradition’
2:29 Beethoven is going deaf
3:00 Two new sonatas
3:08 The career-defining genre
3:41 Sonata quasi una Fantasia - an experimental approach to the genre
5:17 “without dampers”
5:56 The fortepiano of Beethoven’s time
6:18 The tempo and the sonority
6:53 Impressionistic sound
7:52 An enormous hit
8:22 'Moonlight’ was never Beethoven’s title
9:01 Connection with Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’
13:08 The beginning
13:41 The ‘funeral march’ melody and Op 26
15:13 A ghost scene
15:49 The '2nd subject’ lament
16:00 Dissonance
16:33 The dedicatee
17:45 The development section
18:52 The recapitulation
19:09 The coda
19:26 The whole form flows
19:44 The combination of classical form and improvisation
20:11 The other movements
20:40 The first movement played on a fortepiano
The topic of this video is the first movement of Beethoven’s second 'Sonata quasi Una Fantasia’ Op 27, more commonly known today as the Moonlight Sonata, with a discussion about some of the less familiar aspects of the music’s genesis (especially its probable connection with Mozart’s Don Giovanni) and challenging some very old misconceptions about its title, its meaning, its tempo, its pedalling and even the way it is meant to sound.
The video ends with a recording of the complete first movement, played on a fortepiano. Following Beethoven’s instructions that the dampers be lifted from the strings throughout the movement, a poetic, mysterious and ghostly sound world is created in which each sonority dissolves impressionistically into the next.
This channel is very grateful to an anonymous donor for the use of a fortepiano for the recording of the first movement at the end of the video.
Matthew King has never been a good speller - we apologise for the misspelling of the word 'neapolitan' in the video.
Beethoven: Sonata quasi Una Fantasia Op 27 no. 2 (first movement)
Pianist: Matthew King
A recording of Mozart's trio from Scene 1 of Don Giovanni (the death of the Commendatore) can be seen here • DON GIOVANNI. HD full ... (at 10:52)
A while ago, Andras Schiff gave a fascinating Wigmore Hall lecture on this sonata. Here's the recording: • András Schiff - Sonat...
#Beethoven #Moonlightsonata #themusicprofessor
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Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoultermusic.com )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King

Опубликовано:

13 май 2024

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Комментарии : 1 тыс.

@raymondhopkins506 8 месяцев назад

This piece moved me to tears when I first heard it at the age of 12. More than seventy years later, it still does.

@Sveccha93 7 месяцев назад

This comment moved me to tears. It's wonderful to feel part of a shared experience.

@RWBHere 7 месяцев назад

It has the same effect on me, more than 60 years after first hearing it. I never could identify it with moonlight, but rather an expression of Beethoven's deep inner sadness at the time he composed it.

@kp6215 7 месяцев назад

Me too in 1963. My favorite piece to be played at my funeral in my will because I can never be without Beethoven and Mozart.

@autumnsilverwolves 7 месяцев назад

Me too. I first heard it when a stepsister played it on the piano when I was 14. 36 years later it's still my favorite piece of music

@johnryan1004 7 месяцев назад

Same especially if I listen during pollen season

@Kurtlane 8 месяцев назад

My father would play it slowly (as it is usually played) and say, "Played like that it sounds calm and tranquil." And then speed up just a bit, and say, "Played like that, it's uneasy and worrying." We had an upright 19th century piano, so the sound was closer to the old fortepiano.

@spacebender 6 месяцев назад

The parallels with “Don Giovanni” are uncanny and reveal how the Sonata contains a tribute to Mozart while remaining entirely original. Your notations were wonderfully instructive and your rendition exquisite - powerful and subtle.

@xanthippas 6 месяцев назад

Beethoven was an absolute genius to hear in that small segment what 99.9 percent of the people listening would find to be entirely forgettable.

@teresagardiner153 4 месяца назад

@@xanthippas People don't generally find Don Giovanni forgettable. It's widely accepted as a masterpiece.

@Siansonea 8 месяцев назад

Well now we have to have the whole thing on the fortepiano. You had to know that would happen. 😆

@douglasmccannpiano 8 месяцев назад

Because. Beatles great variation

@kenpeters9807 8 месяцев назад

I am very curious how you know HOW he wanted it played. Do you have a recording from him?

@Siansonea 8 месяцев назад

@@kenpeters9807 The closest thing we have to a "recording" is what Beethoven wrote. FYI, audio recording technology didn't start to be a thing until the early 20th Century, long after Beethoven's time.

@jamesbastani4295 8 месяцев назад

@@Siansonea I think Ken is being facetious.

@spoffspoffington6576 8 месяцев назад

At bit posh . I quay

@suecox2308 8 месяцев назад

It has always sounded melancholy to me rather than romantic--the kind of piece that can draw tears from its listener. Thanks so much for another interesting video; the historical context adds a lot.

@ryacoli 8 месяцев назад

Romantic Period (1798 - 1837) Melancholic Period (??? - ???)

@richardgurney1844 8 месяцев назад

I like to associate the piece with Beethoven's despair in going deaf. Pain, loss, despair, and death - those are the feelings I get from Movement 1. And Movement 3 too, with added fury! Movement 2 I interpret as Beethoven pretending he's fine, on the outside

@Gubbe51 8 месяцев назад

Define "romantic".

@psychonaut689 8 месяцев назад

Consoling his pain.

@sugarfree1894 8 месяцев назад

@@Gubbe51 'Romantic' refers to a historical period, in the context of creative arts. It's also the general adjective. Sometimes it's not clear which one someone means.

@captainmol0 7 месяцев назад

I feel so vindicated! 😅 I thought it should be played faster than what my teacher wanted. I also got points deducted at an adjudication because I played it “too fast.” 😒 I also think that it’s a highly emotional, tension- anxiety-filled piece. The tension builds, then there’s a glimmer of hope for a resolution, but then the frustration rises again only to fade away into despair. One of my all time favorites to play. Thanks for all the great history regarding it.

@deepg7084 7 месяцев назад

This piece has always held such a strange place in my heart. I have never been comfortable with how it makes me feel. Sort of downtrodden, conflicted, regretful. Yet, it simultaneously exudes a beauty that you can get lost in. Sort of like a flower sprouting from a smoldering battle field. So despite the discomfort, I still continue listening. It's so strange. This was a fascinating breakdown of the piece.

@peters9744 6 месяцев назад

Good writing.

@mariaashot5648 6 месяцев назад

Curious that you have that reaction to it! I find it soothing, dreamy, High Romantic - evocative of the era (my expertise is in the literature of that epoch) - nostalgic for idealism yet at the same time cognizant of all the damage done by "idealists in power." Which was pretty much the mood across Europe after the cataclysms of the French Revolution followed by the Napoleonic Wars: so many deaths, so much destruction, so many traumatised survivors, military as well as civilians... Broken families, forced marriages, expropriations, emigrations... When my grandson was a baby, we would play this Sonata to him (William Kempff version, usually, because it is the quietest in the beginning) to quiet him down to sleep. Now he is 13, and the entire thing, along with other Sonatas by Beethoven, are amongst his very favourite pieces of music to listen to. Classical music trains young minds to focus.

@nathanjohnson9715 5 месяцев назад

@@mariaashot5648 I kinda think that baby mozart stuff is a myth

@Grizzlox 7 месяцев назад

I have always considered this to be an extremely haunting piece of music. It's dissonance leaves you with that feeling of being unsure how things are going to resolve, which is exactly how you feel when you lament life's sorrows. Occasionally, the tone lifts as if it's going to become hopeful... but each time, the dissonance remains and that driving baseline remains underneath, reminding you that there is nothing but despair.

@tubax926 2 месяца назад

that's why you have to listen to all 3 movements together if you don't like that feeling to linger. First one gets to know you then leaves you feeling dissonant, second one breaks the tension and shocks you up, third movement takes you through a rollercoaster and beautifully concludes the piece.

@sharbean 6 месяцев назад

My father never took proper piano lessons but learned to play this piece by heart. He played it with great feeling and sensitivity. It is so precious and meaningful to me.

@georgem8744 6 месяцев назад

The first movement, or all 3? Either way, Respect to him.. As a self taught guitarist myself, it's surprising how far you can go with a little determination 😊

@phillipstrommer4668 6 месяцев назад

Segovia was quoted as saying "haste, slowly!" and "you can break down many barriers with a strong will". Keep up your good work.

@estelleleroux6594 6 месяцев назад

Real talent.

@bobbarclay316 8 месяцев назад

OK, wow. Those dissonant measures are the sound pain makes.

@marjieestivill 8 месяцев назад

This is my favorite comment…

@capezyo 8 месяцев назад

Amazing relation of D. Giovani with the Moonlight

@GARCKY 8 месяцев назад

Fascinating. I'm not a pianist, but was moved to teach myself the first movement of that sonata on the piano so I could experiment with it. Once I had it well under my fingers, I began to explore the melancholy aspects of it, along with the tension between the voices and the ground, and expressed my own response to the music through much the same approach you used in describing it. I never performed it anywhere, since I was an oboist and didn't presume to play the piano in public. One time, though, I was overheard playing it by someone who was an accomplished pianist. Afterwards he said, "That was a most interesting interpretation. It made me think somewhat differently about it." So, I was pleased. Thanks for the explanation as you provided it. I recognize what you are saying.

@teotoniogonsalves1525 8 месяцев назад

The more I listen to Beethoven music; the more I'm struck by why and how other composers must have scratched their heads to take harmony into what we are experiencing now.

@annhorn1190 7 месяцев назад

Great to play and play it to go along with the mood your in at the moment.

@sonicsatsuma1256 8 месяцев назад

Incredible rendition. So used to the first half and other performances / interpretations getting mushy towards the end. The second half was so clear harmonically, it had me tranced out. How the hell did Beethoven even write this? It moves from start to finish and modulates smoothly all the way through without actually repeating itself literally. Addictive!

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Well, there is something marvellous about that, isn't there!?

@bradhuskers 7 месяцев назад

@themusicprofessor Yes. That's why Beethoven is an immortal.

@jeffreyjeziorski1480 7 месяцев назад

@@bradhuskers do not downplay the fact that LVB was a hard workin' sumbitch.

@michaelmoore7975 7 месяцев назад

@@themusicprofessor The Electric Light Orchestra made a pretty good "modernized" rendition of _Moonlight Sonata,_ most familiar being the opening piano strains but really treated the original with respect. Jeff Lynne's lyrics written for it are quite beautiful as well. No coincidence the title also nods with respect to lovely, lovely Ludwig van, calling it _Ticket to the Moon._

@adrianthomas6244 6 месяцев назад

@themusicprofessor great video, very informative, I absolutely love playing this fantastic sonata on the piano, I am mostly a self taught pianist, I first heard this being played back in 1980 at the age of 10yrs, on the drama series flake trees of thika, and said to my mother and grandparents " one day iam going to play this fantastic piece, at the age of 15yrs I humbly speaking taught myself to play the piano, then In 1988 at the age of 18yrs old I taught myself to play the moonlight sonata, and it has given me pure joy and pleasure playing it ever since, also loved your playing on the fortepiano, greetings from wales 😀 uk

@bobbarclay316 8 месяцев назад

A Paul Simon/Ladysmith line says "Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake. That photo had connections ringing in my head.

@aguywithanopinion8912 6 месяцев назад

This is the sort of tempo I would play Moonlight Sonata as a kid. My mother would always tell me it was too fast. Now I can tell her it is what Beethoven intended.

@anzulove7457 6 месяцев назад

I like the "fast" tempo too. It feels so good lol

@antoniocarlosgomesfernedag1637 2 месяца назад

For me, play this music fast kills the funeral atmosphere that it have.... I preffer that slowly...

@JLMABIO Месяц назад

@@antoniocarlosgomesfernedag1637 I preferred speed is that of Claudio Arrau's black and white version one finds in YTube. Slower.

@1001100x02 6 месяцев назад

Playing this on a Yamaha Clavinova with headphones was my relief from sciatica. I would literally lose myself in the music to an almost out of body experience, and when I was done, the pain would be gone. As much as Beethoven belongs to the Classical era with Haydn and Mozart, he also ushered in the Romantic era with the two opening chords of the Eroica Symphony.

@larrygraham3377 8 месяцев назад

Wow, this is a brilliant video. I really felt as though I was in the mind of Bethoven as he was composing this wonderful work. Again THANK YOU for explaining this precious work of Ludwig Von Bethoven. 👏👏👏

@jasonm456 7 месяцев назад

I quit piano at 12 to play rock n roll on guitar, now at 41 have come back to it and this is one of the first pieces I’ve worked through. Knowing a bit more about composition and theory than I did 30 years ago I really appreciate the brilliance of this piece with the modulation and feel. I never get tired of playing it. My kids do but I tell them it’s good for them… This video gives such great context for how this piece came to be. Thanks for sharing!

@eichelbergergary 7 месяцев назад

the entire Sonata is brilliant, and as much as the First movement is identified as the core of the work, The Third movement, Presto Agitato, is absolutely epic and exciting beyond description.

@kellmeister2k 8 месяцев назад

The fortepiano reminds me of older upright pianos like my grandparents had in their front room. It was a player piano, and I have many happy memories of listening to that piano.

@HunterBelkiran 8 месяцев назад

One of the most perfect, timeless pieces of piano music ever written.

@anzulove7457 6 месяцев назад

I really appreciate videos that break down the history of things so engrained in our culture. That we shouldn't just approach them nonchalant, but try to understand and capture why and how they came to be.

@kkampy4052 8 месяцев назад

This piece never fails to move me to tears.

@freshofftheufo 8 месяцев назад

Somehow even more somber and grating on the fortepiano. What a treat, very powerful stuff, thank you for this!

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

The fortepiano is a wonderful poetic instrument.

@KlingbergWingMkII 6 месяцев назад

First time I heard it I felt I wanted it played at my funeral. Decades later I still feel the same. Perfect piece for an exit from this world.

@JulesUS8386 6 месяцев назад

I absolutely love this writing from Beethoven. I took it to contest when I was 15. Even though the music I learned it from did not have his notes as your copy does, but my heart felt it the way you describe, so I played it with the same feeling. It’s rather sad that he did not approve of the song’s popularity over his newer music. He was a brilliant composer. I think as his hearing became bad, he had a sense of anger and urgency that is heard in his later music. No surprise as his health declined. Love your little dog laying by you as you play❤

@jordandominy7295 8 месяцев назад

I’m an amateur piano player, and I’ve been playing this piece a lot lately. Your video and performance gives me such a deeper insight to it. I enjoyed it so much. Thanks! 🙏🏻

@christinewoods1589 8 месяцев назад

Picasso said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” Beethoven WAS a great artist. He may have stolen ideas from Mozart, but he made them his own. Thanks so much for this post!

@mrkitty777 8 месяцев назад

If Beethooven met Mozart i can only tell that they both might have been poisoned with Aqua Tofana, in script of Mozart it was found in Die Zauberflaute, the magic flute, it explains beethoven getting no more hearing and Mozart's death. It was in the ink used to write notes on paper, the fumes of the ink were poisoned, you can find scientists findin the poison in Mozart writing script 😔😔😔😔

@duffman18 7 месяцев назад

Funnily enough, Picasso was far from the first person to say that. He stole that line, too.

@tjcint Месяц назад

Picasso's 'art' is appalling. Vastly overrated.

@sincerelyyours7538 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for this, I found the history of my favorite classical piano piece fascinating. I've been playing it rubato for 40 years and have never until recently heard anyone else play it. That has allowed me to explore the beauty of the piece independently and in effect, make it my own. It easily allows me, still a beginner, to express my feelings without worrying about the proper tempo or the proper loudness and softness of the notes. Without knowing its dirge-like origins I'd often imagined it like a conversation between lovers, each triplet, octave and run being a new point of view expressed or a difference of opinion explored with the shifting triplets and melody indicating those shifting points of view, but it always ended in a final, sad but amicably agreed upon conclusion the way all good conversations between lovers should end. I'm not sure any of that makes any sense, but music, to me, doesn't have to make sense for people to express their emotions in it.

@chrisandersen5635 8 месяцев назад

If you want to hear a rubato version, whether you like it is up to you, listen to Oscar Levant’s version. He does it on the modern piano in I believe, the 1940’s. See what you think.

@movierun 8 месяцев назад

Your comment makes perfect sense to me. All great artistic expression comes from a place of feeling and intuition - not intellect. I even use some subtle rubato with Bach.

@uqpmilne 8 месяцев назад

Thank you so much for these RU-vid pieces. I know zero about music theory or practice but Beethoven has always spoken to me like no other Artist. Your commentary (and beautifully expressive piano work) is helping me go even deeper into my appreciation of his legacy contribution to humankind.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Superb. Thank you for your comment.

@stevemarshall5249 7 месяцев назад

Ah yes, great memories here. I was a teenager in the 1960s, and while my contemporaries were listening to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones etc etc, I was listening to Beethoven! And playing this, and others of his works that were accessible to an amateur with rather short and inflexible fingers. Still have the complete collection of sheet music of all the piano sonatas. Great stuff, thanks.

@lynnealarie9733 7 месяцев назад

Thank you for the background history and the influence of Mozart on Beethoven. Why he believed he lived in the shadow of Mozart is beyond me. Beethoven made the darkest music so elegant. I loved hearing you play this on the fortepiano.

@themusicprofessor 7 месяцев назад

Oh - because it was Mozart (particularly his minor key works like the D minor and C minor piano concertos and also the operas and string quartets) that revealed to him how to make "the darkest music elegant" as you so elegantly put it!

@Makapaa 7 месяцев назад

Oh wow! It's incredible how "powerful" the Moonlight Sonata becomes when played at correct tempo and "original" instrument! While the slower rendition played with (full range of) Pipe Organs and proper resonating environment 'is' almost otherworldly experience, it isn't this. Faster speed and sharper sounds of fortepiano almost make it feel like piece for Military Honours or something! It's comparatively strong, it's beautiful and yet it is classy, elegant and has that delicate softness too! If I were a aristocratic lady hearing this played to me, I'd at least fancy a bit of play with the artist for sure! :P

@eforrest9553 6 месяцев назад

Thank you so much for this! As a lifelong but lightweight classical music fan, I am fascinated to find out about all of this historical & musical background--I went to listen to the Don Giovanni scene and got pulled into Opera World for quite a while, then came back to listen to the forte piano version you played..it made me late for my job, but made my day! I have subscribed...

@tapunyr8526 7 месяцев назад

How moving to hear what the piece would have sounded like originally. What a beautiful and ethereal sound. The sonata has always moved me to tears but the original sound was on a whole new level. Mesmerising! Thank you x

@themusicprofessor 7 месяцев назад

Thank you so much for this lovely comment.

@angelikafranz4545 7 месяцев назад

Yes, that's what I felt, too!

@richardguittar4908 8 месяцев назад

The written commentary during the playing adds so much. To someone like me it is easy to kind of drift into a beautiful numbness while listening. It is all so beautiful. The commentary keeps me focused on what Beethoven was doing and thinking. Wonderful.

@SunDogDeb 7 месяцев назад

As a kid and teen I took 9 years of classical piano. Now at 66 I sort of regret not having been able to continue playing (I'm 66 now, and at the time it just wasn't feasible to get a piano up 3 flights of stairs!) and though I've played this piece so often I can picture the sheet music in my head, I've never heard such a clear explanation of the piece as with this video. I always thought it sounded melancholy, but I was always corrected that it wasn't sad it was beautiful. Glad to know I was right! LOL!

@Supermoneygang12 7 месяцев назад

“Not having been able to continue playing.” No you just gave up lmao nobody put a gun to your head and made you stop

@mendyviola 8 месяцев назад

I spent several years studying his quartets as a violist. Been studying piano just shy of 2 years now and this in next on my list for piano.

@CarolynFahm 8 месяцев назад

A new and deeper appreciation of a beloved piece of music. Thank-you so much for sharing your knowledge and your musicianship with us.

@user-om5co3nd8u 8 месяцев назад

How sharply it was noticed about the similarity with "Don Giovanni"! Fabulous!!!

@berkeleygang1834 8 месяцев назад

Bravo! You gave me a lot of insight into this masterpiece, for which I'm grateful. I've been studying music theory on and off, and there's so much to learn from the chord structures, and you've done an excellent job explaining them. The historical context is most welcome. I look forward to hearing more, and will be reviewing previous episodes from your channel. Again, Bravo! Keep up the good work!

@aidanstrong1061 8 месяцев назад

It's a real shame more people don't perform Beethoven on fortepiano. Absolutely fantastic performance and analysis

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for the encouragement.

@TheTioram 8 месяцев назад

Andrasz Schiff performed Schuberts Impromptus on a Forte Piano. A delight

@agricolaurbanus6209 7 месяцев назад

Yes, please more on the other movements!😍

@themusicprofessor 7 месяцев назад

OK! I do intend to cover them soon.

@zicomontibeller. 8 месяцев назад

This is the greatest video I've ever seen about this piece and about Beethoven during the time he wrote it, just amazing.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you!

@daytonlivingston330 8 месяцев назад

Hearing this on a fortepiano gives me chills...especially 21:59 - 22:05 Absolutely in awe.... Modern pianos do not do it justice

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you! Great comment.

@eumaeus 6 месяцев назад

Unlike everyone else commenting here, I am not a musician. I cannot play any instrument, read sheet music nor can I sing. I am the type of person this channel is not intended for, Professor. However, this appeared in my feed and of course, I know of this piece, so I listened from start to end and found that I was so captivated that it felt like 5 minutes, not 25. This was lovely, informative and thoroughly interesting; delivered by someone who is clearly knowledgeable on the subject and also with a delivery style that kept my interest throughout. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed.

@helenjohnson7583 6 месяцев назад

So excellent and enlightening!

@helenjohnson7583 6 месяцев назад

Thank you for playing this piece on the instrument it was written for! And you filled in a lot of knowledge gaps with good information. Excellent presentation!

@themusicprofessor 6 месяцев назад

Thank you so much. Lovely comment! This channel exists really for non-musicians so it's wonderful to hear that it works!

@dereksawle 7 месяцев назад

Such an informative synopsis of one of my favourite classical pieces - loved it! Thanks.

@jonathanirvin2201 6 месяцев назад

As usual an absolutely brilliant dissertation, and here on a beautiful, moving, beloved piece from one of music's greatest composers. Thank you, Professor!

@colinellicott9737 7 месяцев назад

Wonderful. Thank you. The simplicity of this piece has always surprised me. Also the improvising section hints at what would thrive on another continent - jazz.

@richardharrisson5250 8 месяцев назад

What a brilliant and welcome contribution to our understanding of Beethoven piano sonatas! Hope to hear and see more from this scholar and artist. Thank you.

@ricaflorsalonga566 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for sharing on the history of the Sonata and fascinating insights on its development and emotional background. Now I would take these learnings when I attempt to play this piano sonata. ❤

@LornaKellyZim 8 месяцев назад

I came across your channel by accident, a really happy one at that, because I learned so much about this piece I have always loved. Expertly presented with such an attractive speaking voice to boot! Thank you!

@JeffWardMusic 8 месяцев назад

What a great video. Engaging, informative and thoroughly enjoyable. As usual, in fact! Thank you.

@katherineg9396 7 месяцев назад

I grew up hearing classical music but when I knew I liked it for myself was when I heard this piece, driving on I 40 on Albuquerque, and I had to pull off the highway because I was just stunned. Thank you for your discussion. I never picked up on the sadness of it so much before. I subscribed.

@craigallenphotography 7 месяцев назад

I’m working out a version of this song on guitar and you gave me some great information to draw on. Thanks for a wonderful deep dive on the masterpiece.

@dawnmitchell11 7 месяцев назад

Thank you for this analysis! I had not heard this piece in this manner before. It brings so much more depth and richness to the piece knowing this information. And the dissonant quarter notes in the top voice have such a different effect when played on the pianoforte.

@darbl.musica 8 месяцев назад

A great and fresh insight of this well known and beloved piece. Thank you!

@VetsrisAuguste 6 месяцев назад

That was the best 25 minutes and 45 seconds of my day! (It’s 11:00 pm in case you were wondering) Just as I was about to skip ahead to the recording, you invited us viewers to do just that. Something about the timing made me change my mind. I’m so glad I took the time to listen to the entire presentation. I was enthralled with every detail. I always thought the Moonlight Sonata was underrated merely because of its ubiquitousness. The historical context makes the piece all the more compelling. I’m not sure I would have appreciated the full value of your recording if I had not been properly prepared. Thank you so much for sharing. Bravo!

@themusicprofessor 6 месяцев назад

Thank you. Lovely comment!

@elisabethloxley6124 6 месяцев назад

Fantastic! Really enjoyed this whole commentary on this movement. Very very interesting. Thank you

@andolin 8 месяцев назад

Love it! Please do the other two mvts ASAP!!!

@allanlees299 8 месяцев назад

Your elucidations are marvelous and your enthusiasm is contagious (in the best possible way...). Thank you so much.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad the contagion is positive!

@OctopusContrapunctus 8 месяцев назад

Beethoven Universality and genius was best described by Strawinsky description of the Große Fuge: "an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever". I think this can be applied to most if not all pieces of Beethoven.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Yes. But Stravinsky was (as usual) correct about the GF in particular!

@mendyviola 8 месяцев назад

The Grosse Fugue is also horrendously difficult to play as a string player (violist here).

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Yes, but it's worth it!

@vinceturner3863 6 месяцев назад

Superb vide. Many thanks for your explanations and rendition at the end.

@simondanielssonmusic 8 месяцев назад

Just found your channel in my recommendations. I'm almost mad that I didn't discover your channel sooner. Great content! :)

@ericsguitar0 7 месяцев назад

This analysis is truly mind expanding. As an amateur musician I feel so humbled by this piece that I feel some of its despair. The complexity, emotional impact, and structure of this piece are true genius.

@unwrought9757 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and deep inside into classical music. That was enriching and truly inspiring indeed.

@unwrought9757 8 месяцев назад

(there should have been “insight” instead of “inside” of course, it’s the cellular who did the spelling)

@cbmsysmobile 6 месяцев назад

Most enlightening. Thank you for making this very informative presentation on this piece.

@dennisl2913 6 месяцев назад

magnificent performance and lecture! luv it! keep up the good work!

@graxxor 7 месяцев назад

This has never stirred romantic feelings in me. As a teenager with gothic tendencies I was a fan of Don Giovanni and this tune always seemed to me to be reprising that death rather than any romance. In fact I had no idea it was supposed to be a “love song” until much later. But even then I felt it was more suited to the “death of love” than its initiation. This has always been one of my favorite pieces.

@tj-co9go 7 месяцев назад

I played this piece at my grandfather's funeral. It seemed to suit the athmosphere well

@WhatWillYouFind 7 месяцев назад

The Death of Love. The lamentation of its' end. A love that was fleeting, intense and full of passion. A love strangled by the horrible hands of fate; slowly suffocating, fighting, suffocating, darkness, and then the inevitable silence as the last vestiges of life are released.

@sofiacaldas6280 7 месяцев назад

True historical interpretation highlights so many important aspects in this sonata so loved. Thank you The ways so many pianists play It contemporary even slow are impressive too.

@minorerrors 6 месяцев назад

It's just composed in the Romantic period of music, nothing to do with love specifically, more about intensity in all types of emotion!!

@minorerrors 6 месяцев назад

Well, it's actually composed in the Classical period. Beethoven's kind of ahead of his time

@jack4865 8 месяцев назад

excellent video, as always! Gives good insight on (arguably) the most known piece (as you said in the video). Now i'm wondering about his other sonatas, from an analytical perspective, like this one.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Yes, well I'd be happy to do all 32 at some point!

@adoptgdx651 8 месяцев назад

I could sit and listen to your analysis for hours !! Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to watching each and everything you share!

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Lovely comment. Thank you.

@leesurridge2947 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for your wealth of knowledge! I was so surprised at how different the two interpretations sound.

@izzyk867 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for these fascinating insights, communicated in your usual compelling manner.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you!

@janneyovertheocean9558 8 месяцев назад

What a wonderful presentation, allowing us to be better informed and prepared of this beautifully melodic piece, whether playing or just listening. Beethoven is alive and lives on !!! How fortunate and blessed of all the posterity who came after him into the world, particularly living in the day and age with ready access to all these absolute beauty.

@MelTuly 7 месяцев назад

Oh my just stumbled across your channel . This was such an interesting and in-depth analysis. Although I now understand it better . It’s still so incredibly mysterious and otherworldly to me . Thank you so much . New subscriber here !

@SpaceMiner007 7 месяцев назад

My wife and l embedded a love of the classics when we played Mozart on our car's cassette player as we took: "road trips." My son's favorite though is Beethoven's 'Midnight Sonata'.

@catkeys6911 8 месяцев назад

Such fascinating insights into this brilliant work! You, sir, are a *wonderful* music professor! I will come back and re-listen to this until I can absorb and retain as much of it as I can in my sieve-like brain.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you so much. Do come back!

@bow_wow_wow 6 месяцев назад

I almost began to cry that was such a beautiful rendition.

@themusicprofessor 6 месяцев назад

Wow. Thank you!

@bergencvv7693 6 месяцев назад

Love your annotations!

@NialasDubh 6 месяцев назад

Finally the RU-vid algorithm brings me a channel I need. This video is brilliant and I cannot wait to watch more from you.

@interstellar618 8 месяцев назад

Fantastic performance!! Analysis and musings very potent and revealing. Thank you!!

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Thank you!

@adude9882 8 месяцев назад

The lower register on the FP in this piece has suggestive powers which are lost on a modern piano. It is a revelatory acoustic window into those times.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

I agree. It's a unique sonority.

@music41912 3 месяца назад

I have just discovered your amazing channel. Thank you so much for creating this wonderful video. It has deepened my understanding of this piece on so many levels. 😊

@themusicprofessor 3 месяца назад

Thanks for watching!

@Hellnation13 8 месяцев назад

You played that at the end so beautifully !

@JoelBursztyn 7 месяцев назад

This Video is wonderful, as people already commented, it clarifies a bit the secrets of this magical piece. Short story, I was 16 and I had a friend(Roni) who played this on his steinway Grand Piano. I was not into classic at that age at all. After listening to him playing the Moonlight, I told him and my self, I will buy a piano and I will learn to play this. At the age of 21 I got enough money, bought a Piano, learned the piece (Tackt aft takt) and played it. Afterward I learn to play other thing (Elton John etc..) 25 years later my daughters (Naama & Einat) ask me: daddy can you teach us playing the Piano. I answered you need to know only one piece. "The Moonlight Sonata" both learned it and plays it (the first movement only). My older (Naama have made a tattoo of the first 4 Takt on her hand!! All this story is about the magic and beauty of this piece that is difficult to explain. This video is so important to people who were so impacted by the piece and shed some light on its beauty. Thank you very much. BTW another piece that changed my life is "Air on G string" of Bach. By the way changed also Procol Harum Thanks again Joel Naama & Einat

@sm5970 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for this. I discovers Beethoven and I cannot put him down. I’ve listened to all his symphonies and keep going back to the first, straight to 9 again. Funny thing is I cycle past his apartment often and past Burgtheater where he often played everyday. His sound is so amazing. His notes are so perfect. I get lost in him.

@themusicprofessor 6 месяцев назад

What fun - to cycle in Vienna!

@sm5970 6 месяцев назад

Burgtheater where he played often*. I don’t know why I said “everyday” there. Maybe I’m still traumatised by the fact that I’m working everyday this week. 😂

@splabadoobies 6 месяцев назад

You make an excellent case for the Don Giovanni reference as well as your manner of interpretation. Wonderful!

@jack002tuber 8 месяцев назад

Very impressive video. I'm not into classical, but I can appreciate this on many levels. I really enjoyed your playing at the end.

@drvee1983 8 месяцев назад

When John Lennon heard Yoko play it on piano, he rearranges the chords for a Beatles tune on Abbey Road. It's called " Because ". Beautiful piece with magnificent harmonies...

@themusicprofessor 7 месяцев назад

Yes, I love 'Because'.

@mechols56 8 месяцев назад

Beethoven was just an incredible composer. The piece is timeless. Particularly the first movement. ❤❤😮❤

@themusicprofessor 7 месяцев назад

I think the whole sonata is consistently on a high level!

@lolilollolilol7773 6 месяцев назад

And when you get the hang of his last sonatas or his quartets, you'll realize he is even more incredible than you thought. The "last Beethoven", as is commonly referred to, is on an entire other level.

@guscraig 2 месяца назад

Matthew, I enjoyed your discussion about the piece as much as I enjoy listening to it! And, yes I am one of those people completely obsessed with it. That was just brilliant. Thank you.

@fingolfen01 7 месяцев назад

I've always loved this piece - played it growing up in piano lessons. Absolutely think your interpretation on the forte piano is spot on.

@adroharv9213 8 месяцев назад

it's not surprising this sonata was praised more than his others because by it's nature of it being memorable in a way others aren't. Complexity doesn't mean a more enjoyable or memorable piece. When I listen to a lot of Beethoven, I am impressed more than I am captivated by his sound. I do believe his understanding for music was perhaps not always of a level that it stood uniquely an entity or essence, possibly because he saw complexity of work over this. I feel he may have been led astray a little in his pursuit of this such would have been his unending appetite to be the best given his circumstance, and because of his direction meant he approached it a little blindsided. He undoubtedly achieved the highest level of himself but I think he would have changed direction had the idea of substance been as much an importance as his ability write so startingly complex work. The Moonlight Sonata is beautiful whereas a lot of his work can be once you understand why it should be and that's arguably not a beautiful thing for many Moonlight Sonata for me is by far the most wonderful thing he ever did although it's interesting he lifted quite a lot from another work. Heart felt in the playing of it too thanks

@gardenofadam79 8 месяцев назад

I was interested in whether you would mention the Alle Breve notation and how feeling the whole song in 2/2 rather than 4/4 would be taken into interpretive consideration. This piece and Chopin's Prelude in E Minor are both written Alle Breve and they play very different to me when really focusing on that alteration. Anyway, lots of great insights and hearing a piece played on a period instrument is always welcome and the preservation of this is wonderful.

@themusicprofessor 8 месяцев назад

Yes, absolutely - this point has come up in several comments. I realise I should have discussed the Alla Breve notation in order to make sense of my claim that the tempo should not be too slow. It is a crucial interpretive consideration.

@bldcaveman2001 6 месяцев назад

Absolutely awesome playing and lecture!

@peterdejong6473 6 месяцев назад

Every time I hear this piece,i hear something new. Yours is a gorgeous rendition. Sumptuous, dramatic, and so much more. Imagine if I could hear your version in high fidelity!

@marlsberlin7716 6 месяцев назад

I always felt it as a very sad, melancholic piece (it never occured to me it was Romantic). Thank you so much for the Fortepiano version. It's an eye opener.

@jasonbrendlinger6071 8 месяцев назад

I appreciate the historical context. It really expands on a piece to know where it came from both personally from the artist and of the time. Thank you. Now you all can call me a tonedeaf heathen if you like, but I prefer the slow, quiet modern interpretation. It's hauntingly beautiful to me. It breathes like a winter's night. It's resonates with me like a melancholy beautiful dream. It just resonates so much for me. That's my subjective opinion. Music speaks like a universal language. The notes tell their own stories to each of us.