This Beethoven’s Classic, Sonata #14 in C Sharp Minor, Quasi Una Fantasia, Opus 27 No. 2, or Moonlight is considered to be his most important work which he dedicated to a 17-year old Countess in 1801. Giuliette Guicciardi was this student with whom he fell deeply in love. The title “Moonlight” was not Beethoven’s but was suggested by poet Ludwig Rellstab in 1832. When he heard the piece, he envisioned a boat on the waters of Lake Lucerne lit by moonlight. Known ever since as the Moonlight, this Sonata is probably his most celebrated piece. The first movement, the “Adagio sostenuto” is the most popular one of three which completes the sonata. Presented here its purest form in an arrangement for Alto Sax and Piano by Jonathon Robbins. Transcribed from Beethoven’s original works, this emotionally driven and melancholy wedding classic can be heard as the backdrop to countless venues and must studied by every serious student of music.
