The Movements of the Sonata Haydn, Mozart, and their successors understood the term sonata as an instrumental work

for one or two instruments, consisting of three or four contrasting movements. The movements followed the basic multimovement cycle described earlier in the discussions of string quartet, symphony, and concerto. In the Classical era, the sonatafor piano solo or for two instruments (violin or cello and piano)became an important genre for amateurs in the home, as well as for composers like Mozart and Beethoven performing their own music at concerts. Beethovens thirty-two piano sonatas, which span his entire compositional output, are among his most important works. His so-called Moonlight Sonata dates from his formative years but looks forward to the emotional expressiveness of the Romantic era. Beethovens Moonlight Sonata An 18th-century engraving dated 1773 and showing a typical violinpiano duo. Shortly after Beethovens death, the Moonlight Sonata was given its title by the poet Ludwig Rellstab, who likened the work to the moonlit scenery along Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. When Beethoven composed the sonata in 1801 (at the end of his first style period), he was already enamored of his young pupil, Countess Giuletta Guicciardi. The sonata is dedicated to her, but since this dedication seems to have been a lastminute decision, the work is probably not a programmatic statement of his love. The Countess was, however, once thought to be the mystery woman in the composers lifehis Immortal Belovedand the recipient of the 1812 letter in which Beethoven bared his soul. This sonata, one of a set from Op. 27, breaks the formal moldshe called it a fantasy sonata (sonata quasi una fantasia), although he retains the typical three-movement format. In the dreamy first movement, perhaps the most famous of any of his works, the melody sings continuously,

moving through various keys and registers. A short contrasting idea intervenes between two statements of the melody. While the form of this movement has elements of development and recapitulation, it does not present the opposition of themes nor keys typical of a first movement. Instead it looks ahead to the modified strophic song forms favored by Romantic composers. Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, the dedicatee of the Moonlight Sonata. The second movement, a gentle scherzo and trio set in a major key, provides necessary psychological relief between the emotionally charged opening movement and the stormy finale. The full force of Beethovens dramatic writing is reserved for this closing movement, which he finally sets in a full-blown sonata-allegro form. Although Beethoven was not particularly won over by this sonatahe argued, Surely I have written better thingsit was an immediate success with audiences and remains one of the most beloved works in the Classical repertory.

By the way Who Invented the Piano? Most credit the Italian harpsichord builder Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655 1731). Working under the patronage of the powerful Medici family in Florence, Cristofori developed a new instrument around the year 1700 described as a harpsichord that plays both soft and loud. This gave the instrument its original name: pianoforte. Cristoforis innovative technology featured hammers that struck the strings and then released, dampers to soften the sound, two keyboards, and a range extending four octaves. Despite the new instruments possibilities, Bach showed little interest. Indeed, many late Baroque composers found its sound too soft and dull. It was not until the next generation of composersincluding

Mozart and Beethoventhat the pianoforte caught on, and Vienna became one of the main centers for its construction and for performance. You can admire one of Cristoforis earliest instruments today at the spectacular collection in New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art.