Toddler moved to tears hearing his sister play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on piano

15 April 2021, 15:44 | Updated: 15 April 2021, 15:50

Watch his little face scrunch up as his sister plays. The purest reaction to Beethoven…

The music of Beethoven is often flagged for its extraordinary emotional power.

But look here, how affecting it is even to a really tiny tot.

Sitting eagerly in the audience for his older sister’s piano recital, young Tyler’s face began to scrunch up, and his eyes brim with tears, as soon as he hears the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata.

His dad Josh Noftz, who didn’t know the music would have such a strong effect on his son, caught the emotional reaction on camera (watch below).

Read more: Two-year-old gets emotional listening to a Puccini aria >

Toddler is moved to tears hearing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata for first time

“It’s OK baby, it’s OK,” Noftz tells Tyler, as he lets out a little whimper.

Millions of people on social media have been moved by the young man’s reaction to Beethoven’s slow, hypnotic arpeggios.

The first movement of the beloved piano sonata does seem to have an extraordinary power to match the mood of its listener – whether music is needed in that moment to uplift, to calm and soothe, or to comfort in times of sadness.

Some advice and assurance for Tyler: sometimes, Beethoven just gets you right in the feels. But it’s all going to be OK...