Ludwig van Beethoven settled down in Vienna in 1793, at a privileged moment. That was, at least, the feeling of some of his contemporaries. Mozart had just left his throne when dying two years earlier in the same city at thirty-five. Therefore, as soon as Count Waldstein learned of Beethoven's trip to Vienna, he sent a letter to young Ludwig, aged 23, suggesting him to study with Haydn, still alive, so that he "inherited the spirit of Mozart."
But Beethoven was not willing to inherit anyone's spirit. Moreover, with both personalities in antipodes, Haydn's teaching could not work. The same was true with other teachers. The exception was Antonio Salieri, alleged poisoner of the one whose spirit was desirable to inherit. Beethoven studied with the Italian teacher until 1802; subsequently, he was always willing to make use of his advice.
In 1801, being still a disciple of Salieri, maestro Beethoven was already a personality in Vienna and lived according to the comforts of a bourgeois home, thanks to his own effort and also to the patronage of some friends: Prince Lichnowsky, to whom he would dedicate the Pathetic sonata, "has sent me a commission of 600 florins," he said in a letter that year.
But his health was fragile. In the same letter, he noted that "my sense of hearing has progressively weakened." Later he confesses to being living a hermit's life: "for almost two years I have tried to avoid all company, simply because I cannot tell people that I am deaf."
Anyway, 1801 was the year he wrote the sonata that, from then to the present time, has obtained the greatest favour from the public: the Sonata No 14, Op 27 No 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata.
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2: "Sonata quasi una fantasia”
The complete sonata is presented here, its three movements, in the rendition by the maestro Claudio Arrau (born in Chillán, Chile, in 1903 and passed away in Austria, in 1991, when he was on his way to give a recital in an Austrian city). The video is a little gem, as noted by a good number of comments on YouTube. The most enthusiastic exhorts young teachers to observe and understand, listening to Arrau, "the true meaning of the art of playing the piano."
Movements:
00:00 Adagio sostenuto
06:54 Allegretto
09:22 Presto agitato
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