sonata
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.3|Ludwig van Beethoven's manuscript sketch for Piano Sonata No. 28, Movement IV Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit (Allegro), in his own handwriting. The piece was completed in 1816.
AI overview
A sonata is a musical composition typically written for a solo instrument or small group, organized into distinct movements that follow a specific structural form. Beethoven's piano sonatas, such as his Piano Sonata No. 28 completed in 1816, are celebrated examples of this genre and demonstrate the composer's innovative approach to musical architecture and expression.
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Article
17 sectionsContents
- Instrumentation
- History
- Baroque
- Classical period
- Romantic period
- After the Romantic period
- Scholarship and musicology
- Sonata idea or principle
- 20th-century theory
- Notable sonatas
- Baroque (c. 1600 – c. 1760)
- Classical (c. 1760 – c. 1830)
- Romantic (c. 1795 – c. 1900)
- 20th-century and contemporary (c. 1910–present)
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
thumb|upright=1.3|Ludwig van Beethoven's manuscript sketch for Piano Sonata No. 28, Movement IV Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit (Allegro), in his own handwriting. The piece was completed in 1816.
In music, a sonata (; pl. sonate) is a piece that consists of 3 or 4 movements that can be for different musical instruments. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until the Classical era, when it took on increasing importance. Sonata is a vague term, with varying meanings depending on the context and time period. By the early 19th century it came to represent a principle of composing large-scale works. It was applied to most instrumental genres and regarded—alongside the fugue—as one of two fundamental methods of organizing, interpreting and analyzing concert music. Though the musical style of sonatas has changed since the Classical era, most 20th- and 21st-century sonatas maintain the overarching structure.