::Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)

Sonata::movement    Sonata::music    Title::piano    Books::pedal    Piano::minor    Music::first

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Title page of the first edition of the score, published in 1802 in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi e Comp.<ref>The title page is in Italian, and reads SONATA quasi una FANTASIA per il Clavicembalo o Piano=forte composta e dedicata alla Damigella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi da Luigi van Beethoven Opera 27 No. 2. In Vienna presso Gio. Cappi Sulla Piazza di St. Michele No. 5. (In English, "Sonata, almost a fantasia for harpsichord or pianoforte. Composed, and dedicated to Mademoiselle Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Opus 27 No. 2. Published in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi, Michaelerplatz No. 5.") The suggestion that the work could be performed on the harpsichord reflected a common marketing practice of music publishers in the early 19th century (Siepmann 1998, 60).</ref>

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The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.<ref>This dedication was not Beethoven's original intention, and he did not have Guicciardi in mind when writing the Moonlight Sonata. Thayer, in his Life of Beethoven, states that the work Beethoven originally intended to dedicate to Guicciardi was the Rondo in G, Op. 51 No. 2, but circumstances required that this be dedicated to Countess Lichnowsky. So he cast around at the last moment for a piece to dedicate to Guicciardi. See {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=book }}</ref>

This piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day.<ref name=Jones /> Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, and did so after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.<ref name=Jones />

Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven) sections
Intro  Names  Form   Beethoven's pedal mark   Influences  References  External links  

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