Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I started learning Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” in the grey of last November. I wasn’t learning an arrangement or a dumbed down version; I learned the real thing, the music as Beethoven wrote it. With octaves in the left hand and variations of C sharp minor chords in the right. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

But I forged on. Worked through the six minutes of music and decided the only way I could honestly concentrate on the dynamics was to memorize the notes of each line so that I didn’t have to look at the sheet music while trying to concentrate on the feelings. It took a long time, but I did it. Now I play “Moonlight Sonata’ once a day not only to keep my memory of the piece sharp but also to refine those feelings behind the notes. They are powerful when one understands them.

I’m still learning. But each time I play the piece there’s another nuance, another shading that comes with having mastered the music itself by memorizing it. The rest is interpretation. My life right now is somewhat chaotic, what with work demanding more time and the sale of our house becoming tedious and the pending fall weather with the transition back to grey. Yet, unlike last year when I could barely understand a line of Beethoven’s magnificent sonata, now I use this music to ward off the annoyance of constant emails for work, the delays in the sale of our house, and the falling leaves. For the most part, it works.