Journal of Schenkerian Studies, Volume 9, 2016 Page: 69

                                
Chopin and Beethoven's "Moonlight":
The Lento con gran espressione (1830) and the Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 1
EYTAN AGMON
In an article that appeared in 1947 in the short-lived journal Musicology, "The Fantaisie-
Impromptu: A Tribute to Beethoven," Ernst Oster makes a startling and bold claim concerning Chopin's
posthumously published work. In the words of David Beach, editor of the 1983 collection Aspects of
Schenkerian Theory where the article was subsequently reprinted, according to Oster "Chopin's work
was consciously patterned after certain features of a work by Beethoven that he greatly admired, the
Sonata quasi una Fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2" (1983, x).
Oster's article seems to have had little or no impact on Chopin scholarship. For example, writing
on the Impromptu in 1978 Jan Ekier poses four questions concerning the work, the first of which is
why Chopin withheld it from print (1978, 201). He mentions Arthur Hedley's conjecture concerning
a similarity to Ignaz Moscheles's Impromptu in B major, Op. 89, but makes no mention of Oster's
belief that the work was not published due to its close relationship to Beethoven's Sonata (Oster 1983,
205). Similarly, in discussing the origins of Chopin's impromptu-genre Jim Samson notes, concerning
the C#-minor work, that "some details of its phraseology and texture" are modelled on impromptus
by Schubert and (possibly) Moscheles (1996, 230), but makes no mention of a possible Beethoven
influence. This is not particularly surprising. According to Oster, Chopin paid tribute not only to the
"surface" of Beethoven's music, key, triplet accompaniment, and so forth, but also to Beethoven's
imaginative use of a simple motivic cell, an upward arpeggio G#-C-E (5-8-3), to secure unity and
coherence in the face of an improvisatory and, indeed, "fantasy-like" style of writing, particularly in
the first movement. "With all the 'technical' mastership which is revealed in it" writes Oster concerning
the first movement, "it is filled with an indescribable mood of longing. However, this mood originates
in turn from the manner in which the three tones of the motive are drawn apart and separated from
each other by wide spaces" (1983, 198). Oster also believed that more than the dreamy, nocturne-like
first movement, that by several accounts Chopin particularly admired, the Impromptu was inspired
by the Sonata's tempestuous Finale, which, strongly as it may seem to contrast the first movement, is
nonetheless governed by the same motive. Since hardly any external evidence is offered in support of
this thesis, it apparently left many Chopin scholars rather unconvinced.2
1 On Chopin's sentiments towards Beethoven in general and the Piano Sonatas, Ops. 26 and 27 (No. 2), in particular, see Niecks
1888, 1: 212-13; 2: 103-4, 110-11, 189-90; and Eigeldinger 1986, 59, 61-62, 115-16, 137-38, 227-28. See also Petty 1999.
Chopin's comment on Beethoven, cited by Niecks (1888, 2:110), shall be addressed in the concluding remarks.
2 The context of Kramer's (2011, 162-83) critique of Oster's article is not Chopin scholarship per se but rather the question
of "resemblance" between works of art, a question that, for Kramer, "should open onto a wide field of cultural and historical
associations" (2011, 166). Nonetheless, the critique raises points that are relevant enough to present concerns to warrant comment.
Kramer does not seem to object to the substance of Oster's article. Even with regard to the claim that Chopin withheld the
Impromptu from publication due to its (supposed) relationship to Beethoven's Sonata, although he points out that "Oster does
not have much evidence for this claim" (2011, 164), later on he concedes: "We may want to decide after all if the Fantaisie-
Impromptu imitates the 'Moonlight' Sonata too closely. Oster may even be right that Chopin thought so" (2011, 168). Rather,
he seems to be mainly bothered by the claims that Oster does not make. "For Oster, procedural imitation, structural imitation,