WEBVTT

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BECAUSE THE 19th CENTURY BECAME

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VERY INTERESTED IN THE CONNECTION BETWEEN WORDS AND

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MUSIC AND MAKING MUSIC ILLUSTRATE THINGS OUTSIDE MUSIC,

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EGMONT OVERTURE, CORIOLAN OVERTURE BY BEETHOVEN, AND THE

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OTHER OVERTURES BECAME KIND OF MODELS FOR TONE POEMS AND

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SYMPHONIC POEMS. SO IT'S OFTEN PLAYED AS A KIND

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OF EARLY MODEL OF THESE WORKS IN CONCERTS.

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BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S REALLY QUITE HOW BEETHOVEN PERCEIVED

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IT. IT'S REALLY AS A PRELUDE TO A

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PLAY BY GOETHE. AND IT RUNS, FAIRLY TYPICALLY AS

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BEETHOVEN DOES, IT'S PRIMARILY IN F MINOR, BUT IT HAS A

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TRIUMPHANT ENDING, AGAIN THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL, WHEN

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IT MOVES INTO F MAJOR. AND THE ORCHESTRATION IS CROWNED

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AT THE END BY THE ADDITION OF THE PICCOLO TWITTLING AWAY AT

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THE TOP. [playing Egmont Overture]

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[playing Moonlight Sonata] ♪ ♪

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>> narrator: THE MOONLIGHT SONATA WAS COMPOSED IN 1801.

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BEETHOVEN DEDICATED IT TO THE COUNTESS GUICCIARDI.

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BEETHOVEN HAD FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE 17-YEAR-OLD AND

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PROPOSED MARRIAGE. GIULIETTA'S FATHER, HOWEVER,

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OPPOSED THE MARRIAGE, AND SHE MARRIED A NOBLEMAN INSTEAD.

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BEETHOVEN WAS INCONSOLABLE, BUT HIS DESPAIR DID INSPIRE THIS

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GREAT ROMANTIC WORK. >> BEETHOVEN'S

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MOONLIGHT SONATA IS ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS AND MOST POPULAR

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SONATAS. IN SOME SENSES, ITS POPULARITY

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OBSCURES JUST HOW UNUSUAL A SONATA IT IS.

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AFTER ALL, MOST SONATAS BEGIN WITH A FAST MOVEMENT, BUT

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THIS BEGINS WITH A SLOW MOVEMENT.

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IT WASN'T CALLED MOONLIGHT BY BEETHOVEN.

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IT WAS CALLED MOONLIGHT BY A GERMAN POET CALLED RELLSTAB,

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WHO SAID IN A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE SONATA THAT IT REMINDED HIM

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OF THE MOONLIGHT OVER LAKE LUCERNE.

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>> narrator: FULL OF YEARNING AND A SENSE OF INFINITE SPACE,

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THE FORLORN QUALITY OF THE LONG, HANGING NOTES SEEMINGLY

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SUSPENDED IN SPACE PERFECTLY EVOKES THE UNFULFILLED YEARNINGS

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FOR LOST LOVE AND TENDERNESS EXPERIENCED BY ITS COMPOSER.

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THE NOTES SEEM TO HANG IN A HUGE VOID OF EMPTINESS.

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>> THE MOONLIGHT SONATA WAS WRITTEN BETWEEN 1800

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AND 1801, AND IT FORMS A PART OF A PAIR OF SONATAS, BOTH OF WHICH

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HAVE THE TITLE "SONATA QUASI UNA FANTASIA," WHICH IS SONATA AS

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THOUGH IT WAS A FANTASIA. FANTASIA REALLY MEANS SOMETHING

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KIND OF IMPROVISED, SOMETHING WHICH DOESN'T HAVE A STRICT FORM

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ABOUT IT. AND THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF THE

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SONATA HAS NO STRICT FORM. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S NOT

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GOT A FORM, BUT IT'S NOT IN ONE OF THE ESTABLISHED FORMS LIKE

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SONATA FORM OR RONDO. IT'S AS THOUGH BEETHOVEN WERE

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IMPROVISING IT, CREATING A MOOD AND EXPLORING WHEREVER, AS IT

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WERE, HIS WHIMSY MIGHT TAKE HIM.