Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 First Movement for 2 Harps and Orchestra (arr. by Phil Justin)

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi.[b] The name Moonlight Sonata (German: Mondscheinsonate) grew popular later, likely after Beethoven's death.
The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favourite even in his own day.[1] Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.

The first movement,[c] in C♯ minor and alla breve, is written in modified sonata-allegro form.[24] Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow 128".[19]
The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation",[citation needed] mostly by the left hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. The movement is played pianissimo (pp) or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is piano (p) or "quietly".
The adagio sostenuto tempo has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz commented that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify".[25] Beethoven's student Carl Czerny called it "a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance".[1] The movement was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked to Czerny, "Surely I've written better things".[26][27]
In his book Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas,[28] the renowned pianist Edwin Fischer suggests that this movement of this sonata is based on Mozart's "Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito" of his opera Don Giovanni, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. He claims to have found, in the archives of the Wiener Musikverein, a sketch in Beethoven's handwriting of a few lines of Mozart's music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) transposed to C♯ minor, the key of the sonata. "In any case, there is no romantic moon-light in this movement: it is rather a solemn dirge", writes Fischer.

Arranged and produced by Phil Justin. Scored in Sibelius 8 and NotePerformer 5. Mastered in Adobe Audition.

This is the 2.0 version. The score needed a bunch of touch ups, and the harp parts needed some more arrangements between the two harps for better flow and performance. The mix and master itself needed a bunch of work and needed to be better equalized, using Sonible Smart EQ 4.


Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 First Movement for Orchestra (arr. by Phil Justin)

Phil Justin is a composer, performer, arranger and producer. He has done projects under the monikers of Ozone Ghost, Pleiadian Agenda, and Shatter the Matrix, as well as other projects and working with bands and artists. Phil also writes alot of orchestral music for both soundtracks and the performing arts, as well as huge orchestral transcriptions of famous piano works. Phil Justin currently has over a dozen album projects: ranging from bombastic symphonic scores to many styles of electronica, as well as funk, jazz, metal, rock, world music and solo piano. Enjoy it :)