Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata - Adagio

"Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon". A painting by Caspar D. Friedrich, c. 1824

When, years after Beethoven’s death, the opera singer Magdalena Willmann was asked why she had rejected the maestro’s proposal of marriage, she responded: "Because he was very ugly and half crazy."

We know nothing about Magdalena, but it seems she did not mince her words. However, even if she was exaggerating, the truth is that Beethoven's relationships with women were never straightforward, but rather complex and awkward. His dour features and (according to some contemporaries) the marks of smallpox, did not help the situation either.

Apart of the singer, the list of candidates to become "Mrs Beethoven" was long: the Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, the two sisters Therèse and Josephine von Brunswick, Therèse Malfatti, Bettina Brentano, Amalie Sebald and others.

Despite all his efforts, the genius of Bonn never married. Countess Guicciardi was the dedicatee of Beethoven’s most famous sonata, the popularly known Moonlight Sonata; she was happy to accept the honor but refused to tie the knot.

Although not a great beauty, Giulietta was a charming seventeen-year-old girl when she commenced her music lessons with young Beethoven. Ludwig had recently arrived in Vienna in 1793, and after a few months of mutual education, he succumbed to the spell of la contessina. Unfortunately, the 23 year-old newcomer who was attempting to make his mark in the Viennese musical society was small fry for the young lady.

But Ludwig did not bear a grudge against her. The sonata, composed during Beethoven’s stay at the home of the Brunswicks in 1801 (where he spent the season looking at the already mentioned sisters out of the corner of his eye), was published in 1802. It was dedicated to la contessina with affection, but also with a printing error: "... composta e dedicata alla damigella contessa Guilietta Guicciardi".

The initial movement of the sonata represents a break with the classic mold. Instead of the traditional structure fast - slow - fast, Beethoven started the piece with a very slow adagio, with the precise indication: adagio molto - a beautiful and simple melody against a background of triplets.

The popular title of the sonata is due to Heinrich Rellstab, a poet and music critic of the time, who compared the adagio with the vision of the Swiss Lake Lucerne, on a luminous night. Most titles traditionally given to the sonatas of Beethoven, owe their names to the wits of publishers or some enthusiastic romantic poets.

In the last bars, in the low registry, the left hand takes charge of the G sharp with which the melody had started.