Is Moonlight Sonata Hard To Play?

Before we dive into the finer points of this discussion, I think it is important to mention the fact that playing any piece of music competently is not an easy challenge. It is also true, I believe, to say that each musician has an array of different strengths.

This means that some pieces will require less preparation and practice compared to others, depending on the individual performer’s abilities and talents.

In addition, some performers feel a distinct and deep affinity with certain composers’ music making the task of learning the composition easier in some respects, but ultimately a closer, more personal exchange.

Is Moonlight Sonata Hard To Play

The ‘Moonlight’ Sonata (1801)  is not a name Beethoven attributed to the work but one associated with it after a critic felt that the opening movement evoked the image of moonlight dancing on lake Lucerne.

This Sonata for Solo Piano is Beethoven’s fourteenth and has the opus number 27, number two. It is written in the key of C sharp minor and has three movements.

Another key aspect of the music to note is the sub-heading that Beethoven gives the sonata: quasi una fantasia. This additional detail has been the source of much debate regarding what Beethoven meant by those extra words.

It is vital to understand this as it cannot help but influence how you will approach learning the sonata. Their literal translation is like a fantasy, implying that even though the composition is a sonata, its directional flow and overall structure are liberal, organic, and improvised.

We know the reputation Beethoven held as a brilliant improviser, so this has influenced the way we think about the sonata. The potential danger is that even with a fantasy feel to the sonata, inaccuracy or sloppy delivery would be a mistake. 

Each of the three movements presents its challenges to the pianist. Frankly, none of the movements is what I would describe as easy. The opening movement marked Adagio sostenuto is the one most people associate with the title and the entire sonata.

Many pianists never attempt the remaining movements. There are several technical challenges to consider when approaching this movement.

There are also not an inconsiderable number of questions surrounding interpretation too, and in many respects, these are more difficult to resolve with any certainty.

Even though the tempo is a slow one, ensuring and maintaining a balance between the parts in the first movement is a challenge. Throughout the movement are accompanimental triplet quavers that provide harmonic content and rhythmic momentum.

These have to remain broadly unchanging during the whole piece whilst the simple, delicate melody sings just above. Were it not for Beethoven’s dynamic marking of sempre pianissimo, the task would be easier.

Except for the final few bars, the hands are not required to move across a large range of the keyboard, and at this stage of the music, the dotted motif falls to the left hand.

Interpreting this extremely well-known work is tricky. If you can achieve technical competency, great, but how you control the emotional content of the music is another matter.

To describe the mood of the movement as pensive is not to do it justice. There are so many shades of emotion that drift in and out during the movement, allowing these to be felt is tough.

Alongside this, you have numerous recordings of the work by many pianists that are bound to influence your thoughts.

The central movement arrives immediately at the close of the first. Beethoven directs the pianist to attacca subito il seguente. There is a sudden change of key to the tonic major (Db major) and a radically contrasting mood.

This movement is a minuet and trio, light-hearted and playful. A certain air of folk music permeates this movement, especially in the trio section where the left hand plays a drone-like figure.

There are lots of clever rhythmic tricks that Beethoven includes here that Brahms would incorporate into his music years later. These provide a challenge in that you need to carefully hold the pulse of the music in your mind so as not to lose sight of rhythmic emphasis.

Care needs to be taken with some elements of fingering, but it mostly falls naturally under the hands.

This understated movement requires a lightness of touch and must not be dismissed as a filler between the two outer movements. Rather it is just another step in the journey this music is taking.

In the finale, we return to the darker key of C sharp minor. Beethoven does not direct the performer to attacca. Instead, there is a short breath before the plunge into the fury of the last movement.

The tempo marking is a complete contrast to either of the preceding movements: Presto agitato.

There is something earthy and primal about this movement. It feels raw and urgent as it opens with a flurry of ascending arpeggios that mark out the tonality.

At the speed, they are intended to be performed, ensuring clarity of delivery can be a challenge. The rhythmic emphasis on the fourth beat only serves to enhance the unstable essence of the movement and in itself offers the opportunity for a less practised pianist to be wrong-footed.

At bar nine we encounter a further technical challenge that features in this movement. The melody that treads through this movement arrives here but is in the left hand, tenor part, harmonised by the rapidly moving semi-quaver figure above in the right hand.

The balance between accompaniment and harmonised melody is tricky. Following a pause, the opening arpeggio idea returns.

This leads to another more complete melodic idea that needs to be approached with slow practice, especially in the octave section that arrives a few bars later.

Awkward octave trills are the next challenge with considerable flexibility and strength needed in the fifth and fourth fingers of the right hand.

In the development section, the fantasy element of the music takes off. Beethoven shifts effortlessly through colourful keys exchanging melody between right and left hands. The music gradually begins to fracture as we move closer to the conclusion.

Passages that more closely resemble cadenzas shatter the pulse and harmony. After a short Adagio, Beethoven returns to the dotted motif and with the flowing arpeggios that bring the finale to a momentous end.