The Kreutzer Sonata François Xavier Prinet, which shows a passionate kiss between the violinist and the pianist. The painting was used for years in Tabu perfume ads. Arab Israeli author Sayed Kashua's 2010 novel "Second Person Singular" echoes the Kreutzer Sonata set in present-day Israel. A copy of The Kreutzer Sonata also functions as a major plot device. The Kreutzer Sonata The Kreutzer Sonata (, ) is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, named after Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata. The novella was published in 1889, and was promptly censored by the Russian authorities. The work is an argument for the ideal of sexual abstinence and
The Kreutzer Sonata After the work had been forbidden in Russia by the censors, a mimeographed version was widely circulated. In 1890, the United States Post Office Department prohibited the mailing of newspapers containing serialized installments of "The Kreutzer Sonata". This was confirmed by the U.S. Attorney General in the same year. Theodore Roosevelt called Tolstoy a "sexual moral pervert." The ban on its sale was struck down in New York and Pennsylvania courts in 1890. In the Epilogue To The Kreutzer Sonata, published in 1890, Tolstoy clarifies the intended message of the novella, writing: Countering the argument that widespread abstinence would lead