Balance

Understanding Balance in Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata's Second Movement

Hi, everyone.

Let's talk about balance in this second movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

The Challenge of Two Hands

Of course, having two hands is sometimes a burden. When playing the piano, we should, for instance, in the first movement, obey three main features:

• Two features in the right hand:
  • The melody
  • The accompaniment (the triplets)
• The basis in the left hand.

Yet, it should all sound equal, not one more dominant than the other.

Phrasing and Voicing

Now, in the second movement, when we address matters of balance, we also talked about:

• Phrasing
• Voicing
• Balance between the voices and between the hands.

This is not always the exact same thing.

Demonstration of the Trio

I can demonstrate the trio, the middle section of this movement, which goes like this:

"This is complete contrast to... as if there's a lack of bass."

So, this is the trio, almost like bagpipes.

The Dynamics of the Trio

• This balance here is a flat because Beethoven writes for forte piano in the left hand, but only a flat.
• It's very clearly marked in the score that this fortepiano goes for A flat and not for the lower D flat.

So, only for your thumb.

Please play it with your thumb, because obviously, you could also play it with the second finger, but we said the thumb is naturally the most robust of all fingers. This way, you can easily put weight on the thumb and not on any of the other fingers, creating a more bagpipe-like sound in the right hand.

Syncopes and Sforzanti

However, those syncopes have sforzanti (SF mark).
So it's not forte piano; it's sforzanto. It's faster, more into the bone.

"And then no sforzanto. And again here. Yes, yes, yes. And again."

See, that's the difference.

The Pianissimo Dynamics

All of a sudden, we have pianissimo, very soft in both hands. Here again, we've got this forte piano just in the left hand, but only for the thumb.

To avoid playing it too loudly, make sure to balance your hands and not play the right hand too loudly. If you play this too loudly, then you cover the thumb's forte piano.

So, try to be as pianissimo in the right hand, allowing the D flat forte piano to shine through.

"After forte, it returns to piano."

This is a proper balance where you will never lose the character of the piece. It will be in strong contrast to the main section, which is very lyrical, gracious, and dolce (sweet).

Conclusion

So, you can play with all these features. Even though this movement is relatively short, it is really compressed with all these amazing features.

It's just like:

"The best dish where you can taste a little bit of everything, even a bit of sugar, a bit of salt in the sauce."

There's really everything that Beethoven's rich personality and artistry could put on one page. So, have fun!