| Happy Beethoven’s 254th birthday! Speaking of birthday’s, my birthday concert in honor of Emily Dickinson’s 194th birthday (which was last Tuesday, 12/10) was yesterday, and it was a fun event! The program is here – and I’ve added a couple of pictures too, HERE. Did Dickinson, who was a piano player, ever play any of Beethoven’s music? Probably not – there is no info that I know of about whether Dickinson ever played Beethoven. |  |
Of course, one of Beethoven’s more popular piano pieces is his Moonlight Sonata, the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, composed in 1801.
Did you know that he did not name it the “Moonlight Sonata”? That nickname came from a remark by German music critic Ludwig Rellstab in 1832, five years after Beethoven's death. Rellstab compared the first movement to moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne. I understand the piece's original title was Sonata quasi una fantasia, which translates to "Sonata almost like a fantasy.”
So did Dickinson ever use the word “moonlight” in a poem? She used the word “moon” in 23 different poems (and “Luna” in one), but what about “moonlight”?
I’ll shed light on that tomorrow. Moonlight, of course.
To listen to the Moonlight Sonata, click on the picture below.
Did you know that he did not name it the “Moonlight Sonata”? That nickname came from a remark by German music critic Ludwig Rellstab in 1832, five years after Beethoven's death. Rellstab compared the first movement to moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne. I understand the piece's original title was Sonata quasi una fantasia, which translates to "Sonata almost like a fantasy.”
So did Dickinson ever use the word “moonlight” in a poem? She used the word “moon” in 23 different poems (and “Luna” in one), but what about “moonlight”?
I’ll shed light on that tomorrow. Moonlight, of course.
To listen to the Moonlight Sonata, click on the picture below.
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