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Moonlight Intro & Notation

Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven Middle Arpeggios - Silver Bass Notes - Bronze Details of Passage Depicted The arpeggio accompaniment is in silver, and the bass notes in octaves, are across the bottom in bronze. The attack of each piano note has small wings that help show the beginnings of each repeated note. All upper harmonics have been removed, leaving only the fundamentals we see as “the notes” in music notation. This makes for a simpler display that directly parallels the musical score. The contour of each note’s attack and sustain can be seen in the diagram. The actual musical notation has been laid out next to the images to show how closely they mirror the music. The van in the moon looks on. The Moonlight Sonata is one of Beethoven’s most famous piano pieces. The opening notes and melody of this first movement are familiar to millions. John Lennon was obsessed with the Moonlight and flipped a reel-to-reel tape of it over to play it backwards. That backwards version inspired the chords for the song “Because,” on the Abbey Road album. Beethoven on Picturing Music while Composing Many composers have spoken about the relationship of visuals, architecture, and color to their music. Beethoven made at least a couple of specific comments on this topic that were noted and published. “I always have a picture in my mind when composing, and follow its lines.” (In 1815, talking about the "Pastoral" symphony.) “I change many things, discard, and try again until I am satisfied. Then, however, there begins in my head the development in every direction, and, in as much as I know exactly what I want, the fundamental idea never deserts me,—it arises before me, grows,—I see and hear the picture in all its extent and dimensions stand before my mind like a cast, and there remains for me nothing but the labor of writing it down, which is quickly accomplished when I have the time...” (1822)