The Moonlight Sonata, acually the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2: Sonata quasi una fantasia, solo piano work by Ludwig van Beethoven, is admired particularly for its mysterious, gently arpeggiated, and seemingly improvised first movement.
The piece was completed in 1801, published the following year, and premiered by the composer himself, whose hearing was still adequate but already deteriorating at the time.
The nickname Moonlight Sonata traces to the 1830s, when German Romantic poet Ludwig Rellstab published a review in which he likened the first movement of the piece to a boat floating in the moonlight on Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne.
Beethoven dedicated the work to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, a 16-year-old aristocrat who was his student for a short time.
Here is a wonderful performance of this masterpiece by pianist Helene Grimaud.
