How did Beethoven”s moonlight sonata influence composers?
Hard to say since they’re all dead and most of them didn’t leave diaries behind describing that particular piece. I think it’s not just “Moonlight” sonata that affected other composers it was everything Beethoven did like: *Utilized the different registers of the piano like no other composer before him *Sustain pedal usage was completely new *Outside the realm of piano music he expanded the length of the symphony beyond his predecessors. *He played with typical formal structures like “sonata form” adding lengthy codas and basically breaking generally accepted “thematic rules” *His experimentation with harmony and remote modulations changed the course of western music history. So in short, it’s not like “Moonlight” sonata triggered a tidal wave of change. Beethoven’s entire career left every composer after him in his shadow.
