Jupiter and Saturn have sixty-some moons each, at last count. Mars has only two, and they’re small, while Venus and Mercury are moonless. Earth has but one moon, of course, but ours is haunting and magical. Our moon is close and big and bright, and the combination of its distance from Earth and its size allow for the occasional awe-inspiring total eclipse of the sun. It’s a safe assumption that for as long as there have been humans, we have looked up at the moon in wonder. And probably for just as long, we have made verse and music about the moon.

Moon music abounds in every culture, from American popular song –lamely rhyming “moon”, “June” and “croon” – to delicate, impressionistic music from the Far East to lush classical compositions. In the latter category are some of the best-known pieces in the repertoire, frequently heard on our stations. For example, there is Claude Debussy’s limpid “Claire de Lune”, which captures the magic of a moonlit night like few other works. In Dvorak’s opera Rusalka, the title character does Debussy one better by adding her soaring soprano voice to praise the moon. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, the entire chorus sings of the beauty of the bright orb. Then there is the so-called “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven, which carries a slightly misleading title: while the first movement suggested moonlight on a lake to the critic who named the piece, the last movement dispels that peaceful image. But no matter. It’s just another example of the enduring influence of our magical moon.

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