Some questions about Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata...

[obxbeachgoer]

I am a college freshman and I took piano lessons for about five years when I was younger, and now I am just starting to pick it back up. I usually play a lot of Bach on my piano- preludes/fugues that were originally intended for organ. Now, I've decided I want to get into some more difficult pieces with more advanced key signatures and I've started to play the first movement of Moonlight Sonata.

Some questions...Beethoven says, and I quote, "sempre pp e senza sordino". Very quiet throughout and without dampers...so if I am interpreting that right, that means you should press the damper pedal the entire way through the piece? Sounds strange...

Also, I am a bit confused about the time signature. The arrangement I have says it is common-time, but the notes do not add up to the value of the measure because it lists them as eight-notes. Are they considered to be triplets instead?

Thanks 

[scottmcc]

Different people interpret beethoven's instruction regarding the pedaling of this piece differently.  Most suggest changing the pedal with the harmony because modern pianos have sufficiently more sustain than beethoven's piano would.  But kempff played it with the pedal always at least partly depressed, and there are some who advocate continuous pedal use.

The arpeggi are triplets.  Be careful when lining these up against the dotted rhythm of the melody.

Ensure you are using a quality edition of the score.  There are many poor ones out there for this piece.  You can download a good one for free from this very website if you need.

[sucom]

Hi there

Some questions...Beethoven says, and I quote, "sempre pp e senza sordino". Very quiet throughout and without dampers...so if I am interpreting that right, that means you should press the damper pedal the entire way through the piece? Sounds strange...

Sempre pp e senza sordino means always very quiet and without mutes.    Basically that is saying to play very quietly without using the left pedal although I know that quite a few DO actually use the soft pedal.  From my own point of view, holding down the left pedal thoughout is tedious to say the least, so I don't tend to use it, although this would depend on the resonance of the room/hall.  To play very quietly and to also achieve a full ringing tone, the left pedal may be necessary.  The sustain pedal should be used throughout, changing as required!

[obxbeachgoer]

Thanks...its just every time I play this piece, it comes out differently. Everyone I talk to is going on about how easy this movement is compared to the third (and I can sympathize...ouch), but in addition to the key signature, the first movement is very difficult to play with maturity. Too many people play it mechanically, like its a Finale or MuseScore playback, and it just kills me.

[scottmcc]

there are truly countless valid interpretative possibilities for this piece, although I certainly prefer a certain type of interpretation.  here's a few (be sure to click on the listen to story button):  https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18577817

there is continued argument about the use of the pedals.  I personally think that if beethoven had meant una corda (left pedal), he would have written it, as he does in several of the other sonatas.  the trouble is the use of the term "sordina" which literally means "mute" or "damper," but is interpreted in different ways by various people.  does this mean without the use of pedal?  does this mean with the pedal depressed?  which pedal does he mean?  I take it to mean that one should use the right pedal throughout, but I change the pedal with the shifting harmonies.  I think this is the most widely accepted interpretation.  for more confusion about pedals, look at the instructions at the beginning of the 3rd movement.  depress both pedals?  turns out, beethoven's piano at the time had a damper pedal for the lower register, and one for the top.  so anyway, how are we to interpret this on our modern pianos?  further-furthermore, some of the earlier sonatas have omitted bass notes where beethoven ran out of room on the piano of his day.  my piano can go that low--should I "fill in" the blanks or play strictly as written?

by the way, this piece is not written in common time, it's written in cut time.  sorry I forgot to mention that in my previous post.

one more thing:  google "schiff guardian uk," and you will find a series of lectures on each of the sonatas by Andras Schiff.  I don't agree with all of his conclusions, especially about the moonlight, but you will definitely learn a lot about beethoven's music if you listen to all of them.