At the opening of the C-sharp minor Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2, Beethoven asks for the music to be played very softly and without the dampers, allowing the triplets, bass and melody to remain connected in sound. The 1802 first edition called the work a “Sonata quasi una Fantasia”. “Moonlight” was a later image associated with the poet Ludwig Rellstab, not a scene supplied by Beethoven.
The difficulty is that a Viennese piano of Beethoven’s time and a modern concert grand do not create the same acoustic field. A Viennese piano from about 1790 had a smaller compass and knee levers that raised the undivided damper rack; its sound also decayed more quickly. On a modern piano, the bass is longer and denser. Holding the right pedal throughout can accumulate successive harmonies until the melody is masked by resonance.
Fidelity therefore cannot mean merely keeping the foot still. Beethoven’s aim was not muddiness but an unbroken field of sound. A pianist may use shallow pedal, discreet changes or different depths across the register, preserving the bass shadow while keeping harmonic turns audible. The test belongs to the ear: do the triplets continue, does the melody float above them, and has the old harmony begun to obstruct the new one? The historical marking points towards an effect, but it cannot make the final decision for today’s instrument.
https://www.beethoven.de/en/media/view/6442239777570816/Ludwig%2Bvan%2BBeethoven%2C%2BSonate%2Bf%C3%BCr%2BKlavier%2B%26quot%3BSonata%2Bquasi%2Buna%2BFantasia%26quot%3B%2B%28cis-Moll%29%2Bop.%2B27%2C2%2C%2BAutograph
https://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No.14_%28Beethoven%2C_Ludwig_van%29
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503677
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