Mixerr Album Reviews #2,129

Arthur Rubinstein ‎does a phenomenal job of orchestrating and covering three of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most well known sonatas on his album Moonlight Sonata: Three Favorite Beethoven Sonatas. These sonatas are internationally known by fans of music. Arthur Rubinstein covers three of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most well known sonatas which are Moonlight, Pathétique, and Appassionata. Arthur Rubinstein does a phenomenal job of covering Classical music. 


This cover version of Moonlight is played in the key of C-Sharp instead of the usual A minor or C# minor. A brief section is based around C major and A minor. C major descends into A minor. This cover version samples triplets from the original musical notes. Yes the Classical period piano sonata and composition piece. The sound has not been sustained though.

The piece is in C-Sharp minor and is set in at 3|8 time. The song does not lack atonality (lacks a tonal center or key). Left-hand arpeggios are delayed by a 16th note with extra bars in the B section and finally last is the rising A minor arpeggio figure. It begins with a C-Sharp theme marked Poco moto (little movement), with the left hand playing arpeggios alternating between A minor and E major. Then the pitch shifts to the C note (C major) descending into the A note (A minor) and then back to C-Sharp.

The ABA scale is the most noticeable music scale used. Heavy use of fortissimo was performed in sonata form of A-B-A vamp form. The keys A-B-A were used and performed in vamp form. The structure is A–B–A–C–A in rondo form. The structure is A–B–A–C–A in rondo form is used throughout the song.

Triplets served as a prelude to the lyrics by using basic tempomar keys. Now triplets are a standard in music composition. Triplets are divided into 3 musical notes instead of the standard 2 notes or 4 notes. The triplets challenge the rhythm and counts we are used to as triplets are complex. Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata is the most famous music composition that uses triplets. Triplets from musical notes are what make this song memorable and stand out.


Pathétique is one of the more lively pieces of classical music Arthur Rubinstein covers on this album of his. This piece is from the Romantic era of classical music. This composition piece leans more towards the key of C minor since most Beethoven songs do so.

The first movement is in sonata form and is placed in 2|2 time with a slow introductory theme. The second theme in E♭ minor rather than the parallel E♭ major. Some parts of this song are played on a 12|8 time scale thus being played in 12|8 time. During the middle of the second part is where the song leans more towards the key of C minor. The song is remarkable for its beauty.

I rate this album 5/5*****!!