The Truth About The Moonlight Sonata

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Amazing relation of D. Giovani with the Moonlight

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.

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.

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.

The Moonlight Sonata is what got me into learning piano. When I was about 14 I heard it on a video game and thought to myself i’m gonna learn that piece someday. And I finally did ❤️

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

That deaf maybe almost dead dog behind is marvelous

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!

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!

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.

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. 👏👏👏

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.