Piano Sonata No. 14
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is popularly known as the "Moonlight" Sonata. The work was completed in 1801 and rumored to be dedicated to his pupil, 17-year-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi,with whom Beethoven was, or had been, in love.The name "Moonlight" Sonata derives from an 1832 deion of the first movement by music critic Ludwig Rellstab, who compared it to moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne.
Beethoven included the phrase "Quasi una fantasia" (Italian: Almost a fantasy) in the title partly because the sonata does not follow the traditional sonata pattern where the first movement is in regular sonata form, and where the three or four movements are arranged in a fast-slow-[fast]-fast sequence.
The work is possibly the most familiar of all Beethoven's piano sonatas, and is widely performed and recorded. The first movement is frequently played by amateur pianists.