Piano Forum

Topic: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations  (Read 2493 times)

Offline sumpianodude

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 106
Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
on: May 20, 2015, 05:26:34 PM
Since I have no longer been working on hte third movement(long story)
I have been directing my attention to the second movement of the moonlight sonata(the minuet/trio)
First things I noticed: in one hand, you have stecatto notes on the bottom note of an octave and the top note is soured to a higher note.
Also there are slurred chords in which notes are repeated
Does anyone know how to manage this?
Fingering in this case... Not so straightforward anymore, as you need to connect what needs to be connected
Help?
excuse pleeze de gremmar and spelling and CapItALizaShuns

Offline j_menz

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10148
Re: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
Reply #1 on: May 21, 2015, 01:10:34 AM
There are two tyupes of slur in play here. One is where notes are tied (ie, held and not replayed) and then there are legato slurs - different notes to be both/all played legato. Where the last of a legato phrase is marked as staccato or with an accent (editions vary in this usage) the last note is held only briefly and not for it's full value.

Step one is to identify all the held notes. There are a lot of them and they are all marked (ie, where there are two notes in a chord and both of them are held, both of them are marked - where only one is held, only that one is marked).

Sitting down with the score and listening several times to decent performances will assist. You may also find it useful to mark the score so that what is meant is clear to you.

Your fingering needs to accommodate the held notes without the use of pedal.

As visitor said in your thread about the last movement, this short little movement is full of challenges and should not be taken lightly. It is important to get the phrasing, notes and fingering right from the outset.
"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left" -- Oscar Levant

Offline sumpianodude

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 106
Re: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
Reply #2 on: May 21, 2015, 05:18:45 PM
There are two tyupes of slur in play here. One is where notes are tied (ie, held and not replayed) and then there are legato slurs - different notes to be both/all played legato. Where the last of a legato phrase is marked as staccato or with an accent (editions vary in this usage) the last note is held only briefly and not for it's full value.
So if I took the very first 2 chords(or that whole measure-and-a-half) that would be the first one? On one hand it is obviously a slur. But the first 2 A-flats... Should that be played again?

Your fingering needs to accommodate the held notes without the use of pedal.
Is there a place I can get sheet music with these fingerlings already on it? I am having a lot of trouble finding the right fingering here.
excuse pleeze de gremmar and spelling and CapItALizaShuns

Offline dogperson

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1559
Re: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
Reply #3 on: May 21, 2015, 06:40:06 PM
So if I took the very first 2 chords(or that whole measure-and-a-half) that would be the first one? On one hand it is obviously a slur. But the first 2 A-flats... Should that be played again?
Is there a place I can get sheet music with these fingerlings already on it? I am having a lot of trouble finding the right fingering here.
You want to become friends with Imslp....as often there are different editor (as some original) manuscripts.  You can preview and print, Some will have different dynamics, phrasing, fingering, etc.

https://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No.14,_Op.27_No.2_%28Beethoven,_Ludwig_van%29

Another resource is to look at sheet music vendors,  such as Sheet Music Plus, preview for editions with fingering.

Fingering is not my best skill so what I do is pencil in my thoughts and discuss during my piano lesson.

Offline j_menz

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10148
Re: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
Reply #4 on: May 22, 2015, 12:26:26 AM
So if I took the very first 2 chords(or that whole measure-and-a-half) that would be the first one? On one hand it is obviously a slur. But the first 2 A-flats... Should that be played again?

Are they tied? No. So play again.

Look at the Dbs in bar 9-10 and see the difference? Both the top one and the bottom one have ties.
"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left" -- Oscar Levant

Offline outin

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8211
Re: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
Reply #5 on: May 22, 2015, 03:59:41 AM
Since I have no longer been working on hte third movement(long story)


So you went from learning something that you could not handle technically to self-learning something where you don't understand the notation? Do you also beat yourself up regularly?  :P

Usually most of these things would be familiar to you before you start working on music at this level...Of course you will get advice from the nice people here, but it would still be a lot easier to let your teacher explain this stuff to you. And at the same time you would hopefully also get advice how to execute properly without excess tension...

Offline iansinclair

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1472
Re: Moonlight sonata second movement articulations
Reply #6 on: May 22, 2015, 02:53:30 PM
And to outin's comment I might add -- doing the Moonlight properly -- any of the three movements, never mind the whole thing -- is a LOT harder than it looks.  I can't think how many times I've cringed through mangled first movements...
Ian
For more information about this topic, click search below!

Piano Street Magazine:
Take Your Seat! Trifonov Plays Brahms in Berlin

“He has everything and more – tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that,” as Martha Argerich once said of Daniil Trifonov. To celebrate the end of the year, the star pianist performs Johannes Brahms’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko on December 31. Piano Street’s members are invited to watch the livestream. Read more
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert