Beethoven indicated each of the two works published under Op. 27 as a "Sonata quasi una Fantasia," presumably a hint that he was trying to move to a newer, more Romantic style sonata. Sonata's No.2 first movement is probably one of Beethoven's most beloved works and among the most widely and instantly recognizable music. The appellation "Moonlight" is not the composer's own, but the invention of German music critic Ludwig Rellstab, who compared the first movement's rippling texture to the moonlight shimmering on Lake Lucerne. This movement was very popular even in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked: "Surely I've written better things."