Sonata (From Latin and Italian sonare, 'to sound'), in music, literally means a piece "played" as opposed to cantata (Latin cantare, to sing), a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era. The term would take on increasing importance in the classical period, and by the early 19th century the word came to be used for a principle of composing large scale works, and be applied to most instrumental genres, regarded alongside the fugue as the fundamental method of organizing, interpreting and analyzing concert music. In the 20th century the term continued to be applied to instrumental works, but the formal principles enunciated and taught through the 19th century were weakened or loosened. Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves structured and audible sound, though definitions vary. ... Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1730 and 1820, but there was considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... In music, a fugue is a type of piece written for counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ...

Usage of "sonata"

The baroque applied the term sonata to a variety of works, including works for solo keyboard, and for groups of instruments. In the transition from the Baroque to the Classical periods, the sonata undergoes a change in usage, from being a term applied to many different kinds of small instrumental work, to being more specifically applied to chamber music genres with either a solo instrument, or a solo instrument with the piano. Increasingly after 1800, the term applies to a form of large scale musical argument, and in this sense is the general meaning in musicology and works on musical analysis. Generally if some more specific usage is meant, then the particular body of work will be noted, for example the "sonatas of Beethoven", will mean the works specifically labelled sonata, whereas "Beethoven and sonata form" will apply to all of his large scale instrumental works, whether concert or chamber. In the 20th century, sonatas in this sense would continue to be composed by influential and famous composers, but many works which do not meet the strict criterion would also be created and performed.

Forces

In the baroque period, a sonata was for one or more instruments with continuo. After the baroque most works designated as sonatas specifically are performed by a solo instrument, most often a keyboard instrument, or by a solo instrument together with a keyboard instrument. Beginning in the early 19th century, works were termed "sonata" if they fell into a particular form, even if not labelled as "sonata". Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and nonchord tones, in relation to a bass note. ...

In the classical period and afterwards, sonatas for piano solo were the most common genre of sonata, with sonatas for violin and piano and cello and piano being next. However sonatas for a solo instrument other than keyboard have been composed, as have sonatas for other combinations of instruments, and for other instruments with piano.

Brief history of the usage of sonata

The Baroque sonata

By the time of Arcangelo Corelli two polyphonic types of sonata were established, the sonata da chiesa (church sonata) and the sonata da camera ("ordinary" sonata). Arcangelo Corelli (February 17, 1653 – January 19, 1713) was an Italian violin player and Baroque music composer. ... Sonata da Chiesa is Italian for church sonata. Sonatas are instrumental compositions of three or more movements. ... Baroque chamber music, usually a suite of stylized dances. ...

The sonata da chiesa, generally for one or more violins and bass, consisted normally of a slow introduction, a loosely fugued allegro, a cantabile slow movement and a lively finale in some such binary form as suggests affinity with the dance-tunes of the suite. This scheme, however, is not very clearly defined, until the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friderich Handel, when it becomes the sonata par excellence and persists as a tradition of Italian violin music even into the early 19th century in the works of Boccherini. The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart, the lowest being the G just below middle C. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello. ... Bass (IPA: [], rhyming with face), when used as an adjective, describes tones of low frequency. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... Binary form is a way of structuring a piece of music. ... It has been suggested that Suite_de_Danses be merged into this article or section. ... Johann Sebastian Bach (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together almost all of the strands of the baroque style and brought it to its ultimate maturity. ... George Frideric Handel, 1733 George Frideric Handel (or Georg Friedrich Händel in German) (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German Baroque composer who was a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. ...

The sonata da camera consisted almost entirely of idealized dance-tunes. By the time of Bach and Handel it had, on the one hand, become entirely separate from the sonata, and was known as the suite, partita, ordre or (when it had a prelude in the form of a French opera-overture) the overture. On the other hand, the features of sonata da chiesa and sonata da camera became freely intermixed. But Bach, who does not use those titles, yet keeps the two types so distinct that they can be recognized by style and form. Thus, in his six solo violin sonatas, Nos. 1, 3 and 5 are sonate de chiesa, and Nos. 2, 4 and 6 are called partitas, but are admissible among the sonatas as being sonate da camera. Partita was originally the name for a single instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau and later German composers (notably Johann Sebastian Bach) used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for suite. ... Overture is also a song by the rock band The Who Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening) in music is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral or, occasionally, instrumental composition. ... The Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) is a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...

The term sonata is also applied to the series of over 500 works for harpsichord solo written by Domenico Scarlatti. Most of these pieces are in one movement only, usually comprising two parts that are in the same tempo and use the same thematic material. (Occasionally, there will be changes in tempo within the sections.) They frequently involve virtuosity and are admired for their great variety and invention. Harpsichord in Flemish style; for more info, click the image. ... Domenico Scarlatti (October 26, 1685 – July 23, 1757) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. ...

The sonatas of Domenico Paradies are mild and elongated works of this type with a graceful and melodious little second movement added. The manuscript on which Longo bases his edition of Scarlatti frequently shows a similar juxtaposition of movements, though without definite indication of their connection. The style is still traceable in the sonatas of the later classics, whenever a first movement is in a uniform rush of rapid motion, as in Mozart's violin sonata in F (Kochel's Catalogue, No. 377), and in several of Clementi's best works. (For a list organized by genre, see List_of_compositions_by_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart) The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. ... Muzio Clementi (January 24, 1752 – March 10, 1832) was a classical composer, and acknowledged as the first to write specifically for the piano. ...

The sonata in the Classical era

The practice of the classical era would become decisive for the sonata, which would move from being a term, to being considered the fundamental form of organization for large scale works. This evolution would take, however, 50 years. It would apply both to the structure of movements, (see Sonata form and History of sonata form) and to the layout of movements in a multi-movement work. In the transition to the classical period there were several names given to multimovement works, including "divertimento", "serenade", and "partita", many of which are now regarded as "sonatas". The usage of "sonata" as the standard term form such works is somewhere in the 1770s. Haydn labels his first piano sonata as such in 1771, after which the term "divertmento" is used very sparingly in his output. The term "sonata" was increasingly applied to either a work for keyboard alone, or for keyboard and another instrument, often the violin or cello. It was less and less frequently applied to works with more than two instrumentalists, for example piano trios were not often labelled "sonata for piano, violin and cello". Sonata form refers to both the standard layout of an entire musical composition and more specifically to the standardized form of the first movement. ... This article treats the history of sonata form through the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras. ... (Franz) Joseph Haydn (in German, Josef; he never used the Franz) (March 31, 1732 – May 31, 1809) was a leading composer of the classical period. ...

Initially the most common layout of movements was:

1. Allegro - which at the time was understood to mean not only a tempo, but the importance of some degree of working out of the theme. (See Charles Rosen's The Classical Style)
2. A middle movement which was, most frequently, a slow movement, that is an Andante or Largo, or, less frequently, a Menuet. This could be in theme and variation form.
3. A closing movement, early on sometimes a minuet, as in Haydn's first three piano sonatas, but afterwards, generally an Allegro, Presto, and often labelled Finale. This could be a rondo.

However, the use of two movement layouts also occurs, a practice Haydn uses as late as the 1790's. There is also in the early classical period the possibility of using four movements, with a dance movement inserted before the slow movement as in Haydn's Piano sonatas No. 6 and No. 8. Mozart's sonatas would also be primarily in three movements. Of the works that Haydn labelled piano sonatas, divertmenti or partita in Hob XIV 7 are in 2 movements, 35 are in three movements and 3 are in four movements, there are several in three and four movements whose authenticity is listed as "doubtful". Composers such as Boccherini would publish sonatas for piano and obligato instrument with an optional third movement - in Boccherini's case 28 Cello sonatas. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... Luigi Boccherini (February 19, 1743 – May 28, 1805) was a classical era composer and cellist from Italy, mostly known for one particular minuet from one of his string quintets, and the Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482). ...

But increasingly instrumental works were laid out in four, not three movements, a practice seen first in String Quartets and Symphonies, and reaching the Sonata proper by the early numbers Sonatas of Beethoven. However, two and three movement sonatas continue to be written through out the classical era: Beethoven's opus 102 pair has a two movement C Major sonata and a three movement D major sonata. Ludwig van Beethoven by Carl Jäger (Date unknown). ...

The four movement layout was by this point standard for the string quartet and overwhelmingly the most common for the symphony. This layout is: The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... A symphony is an extended piece of music usually for orchestra and usually comprised of several movements. ...

1. An allegro, which by this point was in what is called Sonata form, complete with exposition, development and recapitulation.
2. A slow movement, an Andante, Adagio or Largo.
3. A dance movement, frequently minuet and trio or especially later in the classical era, a scherzo and trio
4. A finale in faster tempo, often in a sonata rondo style.

This four movement layout became considered the standard for a "sonata", and works without four movements, or with more than four, were increasingly felt to be exceptions, and were labelled as having movements "omitted", or had "extra" movements. This usage would be noted by critics by the early 1800's and codified into teaching soon thereafterward. Sonata form refers to both the standard layout of an entire musical composition and more specifically to the standardized form of the first movement. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... A minuet, sometimes spelt menuet, is a dance for two persons, usually in 3/4 time. ... A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ... Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that is distinct from the form. ...

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Beethoven's output of sonatas, 32 piano sonatas, plus sonatas for cello and piano and violin and piano, forming a large body of music which would over time increasingly be felt to be essential for any instrumentalist of ability to master.

Sonata in the Romantic Era

The early 19th century began to establish conservatories of music, and codify the practice of the classical era. In this context, the current usage of the term "sonata" was established, both in terms of form, and in the sense that a full sonata is the normative example of concert music, which other forms are seen in relation to. Carl Czerny declared he invented the idea of sonata form, and music theorists began to write of the sonata as an ideal in music. From this point forward, the word "sonata" in music theory as often labels the musical form as well as much as particular works. Hence references to a symphony as a "sonata for orchestra". This is referred to by Newman as the "sonata idea", and by others the importance of the "sonata principle". Carl Czerny (sometimes Karl; February 21, 1791 – July 15, 1857) was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. ...

Among works expressly labelled sonata, some of the most famous sonatas composed in this era, there is the "Funeral March" sonata of Chopin, the sonatas of Mendelssohn and the three sonatas of Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and later the sonatas of Johannes Brahms and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer. ... Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of Romantic music, who predominantly lived in Vienna, Austria. ... Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: , Sergej Vasilevič Rahmaninov, April 1, 1873 (N.S.) or March 20, 1873 (O.S.) – March 28, 1943) was a Russian-American composer, pianist, and conductor. ...

In the early 19th century the sonata form was defined, from a combination of previous practice and the works of important classical composers, particularly Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, but as well composers such as Clementi. Works which were not labelled "sonata" were felt to be an expression of one governing structural practice. The term "sonata" acquired the meaning of the structure of larger works. Because the word became definitively attached to an entire concept of musical layout, the differences in classical practice began to be seen as important to classify and explain. It is during this period where the differences between the three and the four movement layouts became a subject of comentary, with the prevailing theory being that the "concerto" was laid out in three movements, and the "symphony" in four, and that the four movement form was the superior layout. The "concerto" form was thought to be "Italianate" while the four movement form's predominance was ascribed to Haydn, and was considered "German". Sonata form refers to both the standard layout of an entire musical composition and more specifically to the standardized form of the first movement. ...

For example critic JW Davison wrote in his The Works of Fredrick Chopin, on page 7 (1843):

Such are the impressions to which we are subject under the influence of this wonderful work – a very triumph of musical picturing – a conquest over what would seem it be unconquerable – viz. – the mingling of the physical and metaphysical in music – the sonata representing a dual picture - ...the battle of the actual elements and the conflict of human passions – the first for the multitude, the last for the initiated.

The importance of the sonata in the clash between Brahmsians and Wagnerians is also of note, Brahms represented, to his adherents, the adherence to the form as it was understood, while Wagner and Liszt claimed to have transcended the procrustean nature of its outline, for example Ernest Newman, not to be confused with William Newman, wrote, "Brahms and the Serpent" :

That, perhaps, will be the ideal of the instrumental music of the future; the way to it, indeed, seems at last to be opening out before modern composers in proportion as they discard the last tiresome vestiges of sonata form. This, from being what it was originally, the natural mode of expression of a certain eighteenth century way of thinking in music, became in the nineteenth century a drag upon both individual thinking...

This view, that the sonata is truly only at home in the classical style, and became a road block to later musical development is one that has been held at various times by composers and musicologists, including recently by Charles Rosen. In this view the sonata needed no description to Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven's era, in the same sense that Bach "knew" what a fugue was and how to compose one, where as later composers were bound by an "academic" sense of form that was not well suited to the Romantic era's more frequent and more rapid modulations. In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ...

Sonata after the Romantic Era

The sonata was closely tied in the romantic era to tonal harmony and practice. Even before the ending of this practice, large scale works increasingly deviated from the four movement layout which had been considered standard for almost a century, and the structure of movements internally began to alter as well. The "sonata idea", as well as the term "sonata" continued to be central to musical analysis, and a strong influence on composers, both in large scale works and in chamber music. The role of the sonata as an extremely important form of extended musical argument would inspire composers such as Hindemith, Prokofiev, Shostakovich to compose in sonata form, and works in traditional sonata structure continue to be composed and performed. Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a center or tonic. ... Paul Hindemith (first name pronounced pah-ool)(November 16, 1895 – December 28, 1963) was a German composer, violist, teacher, theorist and conductor. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokofev, 15/April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (help· info) (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Šostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906–August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ...

The piano sonatas of Scriabin would begin from standard forms of the late romantic period in music, but would progressively abandon the formal markers which were taught, and would be composed as single movement works, he is sometimes thought of as a composer on the boundary between romantic and modern practice of the sonata. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Скря́бин, Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin; sometimes transliterated as Skryabin or Skrjabin) (6 January 1872–27 April 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ...

Farther afield, Pierre Boulez would compose three sonatas in the early 1950's, which while they were neither tonal, nor laid out in the standard four movement form, were intended to have the same importance as sonatas. Elliot Carter would begin his transition from neo-classical composer to avant-garde with his Cello Sonata. Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez (IPA: /pjɛʁ.buˈlɛz/) (born March 26, 1925) is a conductor and composer of classical music. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

The Sonata in scholarship and musicology

The sonata idea or principle

Research into the practice and meaning of sonata form, style and structure would be the impulse for important theoretical works by Heinrich Schenker, Arnold Schoenberg and Charles Rosen among others, and the pegagogy of music would continue to rest on an understanding and application of the rules of sonata form as almost two centuries of development of practice and theory and codified it. Heinrich Schenker Heinrich Schenker (June 19, 1868 - January 13, 1935) was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1938 For the American music critic and journalist, see Harold Charles Schonberg. ... Charles Rosen (born May 5, 1927) is an American pianist and music theorist. ...

The development of the classical style and its norms of composition would form the basis for much of the music theory of the 19th century and 20th century. As a form, it was compared to the baroque fugue as being at the pinnacle of formal organization, and generations of composers, instrumentalists and audiences were guided by the understanding of sonata as an idea. The sonata idea begins before the term had taken its present importance, as the classical era changed its norms of performance practice. The reasons for these changes, and how they relate to the evolving sense of a new formal order in music is a matter of a great deal of research. Some common factors which were pointed to include: the change of music from primarily vocal to being instrumental; the changes in performance practice, including the end of the use of the continuo and the playing of all movements of a work straight through; the shift from the idea that each movement should express one emotion, to one which integrated contrasting themes and sections; the move from polyphonically based composing to homophonically based composing; changes in the availability of instruments; the change in the formal organization of movements away from binary organization; the rise of more dance rhythms; and changes in patronage and presentation. In music, a fugue is a type of piece written for counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ...

Crucial to most interpretations of the sonata form is the idea of a tonal center and, as the Grove Concise dictionary of music puts it: "The main form of the group embodying the 'sonata principle', the most important principle of musical structure from the Classical period to the 20th century: that material first stated in a complementary key be restated in the home key".

The sonata idea was described by Newman in his monumental three volume work, begun in the 1950's and published in what has become the standard edition of all three volumes in 1972. He notes that according to his research, theorists had generally shown "a hazy recongition of 'sonata form' during the Classical Era and up to the late 1830's" and places particular emphasis on Reicha's 1826 work describing the "fully developed binary form", for its fixing of key relationships, Czerny's 1837 note in preface to his Opus 600, and Adolph Bernhard Marx who in 1845 wrote a long treatise on the "sonata form". Up until this point, Newman argues, the definitions available were quite imprecise, requiring only instrumental character and contrasting character of movements.

Newman also notes however that these codifications were in response to a growing understanding that the 18th century had a formal organization of music, and that it was important to understand it. Before the publication of Reicha, Czerny or Marx, there are references to the "customary sonata form", and in particular to the organization of its first movement. He documents in his works the evolution of analysis as well, showing that early critical works on sonatas, with some very notable exceptions, dealt with structural and technical details only loosely. Instead, many important works of the sonata genre or sonata form were not analyzed comprehensively in terms of their thematic and harmonic resources until after the beginning of the 20th century.

20th century theory

Two of the most important theorists in European musicology of the 20th century, Heinrich Schenker and Arnold Schoenberg, both had ideas with tremendous importance to the analysis and general understanding of the sonata. Their ideas were extremely rigorous, and placed tremendous emphasis on the long range influence of tonal materials. Both advanced theories of analysis of works which would be adopted by later theorists. Importantly, while the two men disagreed with each other, eventually their ideas were often used in combination.

Heinrich Schenker argued that that there was an urlinie or basic tonal melody, and a basic bass figuration. That when these two were present, there was basic structure, and that the sonata represented this basic structure in a whole work with a process known as interruption. Arnold Scheonberg advanced the theory of monotonality, which argued that a single work should be played as if in one key, even if movements were in different keys, that the capable composer would reference everything in a work to a single tonic triad.

For Schenker tonal function was the essential defining characteristic of comprehensible structure in music, and his definition of the sonata form rested, not on themes groups or sections, but on the basic interplay between the different "layers" of a composition. For Schoenberg, tonality was not necessary to comprehensibility, but the same importance of structural function of notes to "explain" the relationship of chords and counterpoint to an over-arching set of relationships. Both men argued that tonality, and hence sonata structure in tonal form, was essentially hierarchical - that what was immediately audible was subordinate to large scale movements of harmony, that vagrant chords and events were less significant than the movement between chords which asserted their central importance over others.

As a practical matter, Schenker applied his ideas to the editing of the piano sonatas of Beethoven, using original manuscripts and his own theories to "correct" the available sources, while many of these changes were and are controversial, the basic procedure, of using tonal theory to infer meaning into available sources as part of the critical process, even to completing works left unfinished by their composers, is used today and is an essential part of the theory of sonata structure as taught in most music schools.

See also

• Bassoon sonata
• Cello sonata
• Clarinet sonata
• History of sonata form
• Piano sonata
• Sonata form
• Sonata rondo form
• Viola sonata
• Violin sonata

A bassoon sonata is a sonata for bassoon, usually with piano accompaniment. ... A cello sonata usually denotes a sonata written for cello and piano, though other instrumentations are used, such as solo cello. ... A clarinet sonata is a sonata for clarinet, usually with piano accompaniment. ... This article treats the history of sonata form through the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras. ... A piano sonata is a sonata written for unaccompanied piano. ... Sonata form refers to both the standard layout of an entire musical composition and more specifically to the standardized form of the first movement. ... Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. ... The viola sonata is a sonata for viola, sometimes with other instruments, usually piano. ... A violin sonata is a musical composition for solo violin, often (but not always) accompanied by a piano or other keyboard instrument, or by figured bass in the Baroque. ...

Famous Sonatas

Classical (ca 1760-ca 1830)

• Mozart
  • Piano Sonata in E-flat major (K. 281/189f - see Köchel-Verzeichnis) - Has an unusual adagio as the first movement.
  • Piano Sonata in A Major (K. 331/300i)
  • Piano Sonata in B-flat major (K.333/315c)
  • Piano Sonata in C Major (K.545)
  • Piano Sonata in B-Flat Major (K.570) - Considered by many to be Mozart's finest piano sonata
• Beethoven
  • Piano Sonata #1
  • Piano Sonata #8 "Pathétique"
  • Piano Sonata #14 "Moonlight"
  • Piano Sonata #15 "Pastoral"
  • Piano Sonata #17 "Tempest"
  • Piano Sonata #21 "Waldstein"
  • Piano Sonata #23 "Appassionata"
  • Piano Sonata #26 "Les adieux"
  • Piano Sonata #29 "Hammerklavier"
  • Piano Sonata #32
  • Violin Sonata "Spring"
  • Violin Sonata "Kreutzer"

Mozart drawing by Doris Stock, 1789 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. ... (For a list organized by genre, see List_of_compositions_by_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart) The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Piano Sonata No. ... The Piano Sonata No. ... Ludwig van Beethoven by Carl Jäger (Date unknown). ... Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Sonata No. ... Ludwig van Beethovens opus 27 no. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Sonata No. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Sonata No. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Sonata No. ... The Piano Sonata No. ... The Violin Sonata No. ... Violin Sonata No. ...

Romantic (ca 1830-ca 1900)

• Franz Schubert, (See List of Schuberts works)
  • Sonata in C minor (D 958)(September 1828)
  • Sonata in A major (D 959) (September 1828)
  • Sonata in B-flat major (D 960) (September 1828)
• Robert Schumann
  • Piano Sonata in F♯ minor opus 11
  • Piano Sonata in F minor opus 14
  • Violin Sonata No 1 in A minor op. 105
  • Violin Sonata No 2 in D minor op. 121
  • Piano Sonata No 2 in G minor op. 22
• Frédéric Chopin
  • Piano Sonata #1 in C minor
  • Piano Sonata #2 in B♭ minor op. 35, "Funeral March"
  • Piano Sonata #3 in B minor op. 58
  • Cello Sonata in G minor op. 65
• Felix Mendelssohn
  • Sonata in E major, op. 6
  • Sonata in G minor, op. 105
  • Sonata in B-flat major, op. 106
  • Cello Sonata in B-flat op. 45
  • Cello Sonata in D op. 58
• Franz Liszt
  • Sonata after a Reading of Dante (Fantasia Quasi Sonata)
  • Sonata in B minor
• Johannes Brahms
  • Violin Sonata No. 1 "Rain Sonata"
  • Cello Sonata No. 1
• Peter Tchaikovsky
  • Piano Sonata in G op. 37 "Grande Sonate"
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Cello Sonata in G minor
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor
• César Franck Violin Sonata in A (sometimes played on cello and now also on flute)
• Edvard Grieg
  • Piano Sonata Opus 7
  • Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor opus 45
  • Cello Sonata in A minor opus 36
• Edward Elgar
  • Violin Sonata opus 82

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828), was an Austrian composer, considered the last master of the Viennese Classical school and one of the earliest proponents of musical Romanticism. ... Many of Franz Schuberts works are covered in separate Wikipedia articles, for which there are links on this page. ... Otto Erich Deutsch (September 5, 1883 - November 23, 1967) was an Austrian musicologist. ... Look up September in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Otto Erich Deutsch (September 5, 1883 - November 23, 1967) was an Austrian musicologist. ... Otto Erich Deutsch (September 5, 1883 - November 23, 1967) was an Austrian musicologist. ... Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... The violin sonata no. ... Frédéric François Chopin as portrayed by Eugène Delacroix in 1838. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer. ... A work for solo piano by Franz Liszt. ... One of the pages from the original manuscript of the sonata. ... Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of Romantic music, who predominantly lived in Vienna, Austria. ... The cello sonata number 1 in E minor, opus 38 written by Johannes Brahms in 1862–5 has three movements: Allegro non troppo, in E minor, in common (4/4) time. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (help· info) (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайкóвский, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (7 May [O.S. 25 April] 1840 – 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. ... Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: , Sergej Vasilevič Rahmaninov, April 1, 1873 (N.S.) or March 20, 1873 (O.S.) – March 28, 1943) was a Russian-American composer, pianist, and conductor. ... César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (December 10, 1822 – November 8, 1890) was a composer and organist. ... Edvard Hagerup Grieg (June 15, 1843–September 4, 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. ... Sir Edward Elgar Sir Edward Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 â€“ 23 February 1934) was an English composer. ...

20th Century (Including Modern) (ca 1910-2000)

• George Antheil
  • "Airplane" Sonata
• Samuel Barber
  • Cello Sonata
  • Piano Sonata
• Béla Bartók
  • Piano Sonata
  • Sonata for Solo Violin
  • Violin Sonatas (1921-2)
• Alban Berg
  • Piano Sonata
• Pierre Boulez
  • Piano Sonata #1
  • Piano Sonata #2
  • Piano Sonata #3
• Frank Bridge
  • Piano Sonata
  • Sonata for cello and piano
  • Sonata for violin and piano
• Elliot Carter
  • Piano Sonata
  • Cello Sonata
• Aaron Copland
  • Piano Sonata
  • Violin Sonata
• John Corigliano
  • Violin Sonata
• Claude Debussy
  • Violin Sonata
  • Cello Sonata
  • Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp
• Henri Dutilleux
  • Piano Sonata
• George Enescu
  • Violin Sonata #2
  • Violin Sonata #3 "In Romanian Folk Style"
• Paul Hindemith
  • Piano Sonata #2
  • Piano Sonata #3
  • Horn Sonata
  • Flute Sonata
• Herbert Howells
  • Two sonatas for organ
  • Sonatas for clarinet, oboe and piano
• Charles Ives
  • Piano Sonata #2, "Concord"
• Leoš Janáček
  • Piano Sonata "1.X.1905"
  • Violin Sonata
• Zoltán Kodály
  • Sonata for Solo Cello
• Ernst Krenek
  • Various piano sonatas in different styles
• Bohuslav Martinů
  • Flute Sonata #1
• Francis Poulenc
  • Flute Sonata
  • Cello sonata
• Sergei Prokofiev
  • Piano Sonata #3
  • Piano Sonata #6
  • Violin Sonata #1
  • Piano Sonata #7
  • Piano Sonata #8
  • Violin Sonata #2 (after Flute Sonata)
  • Cello Sonata
• Maurice Ravel
  • Violin Sonata
  • Sonata for Violin and Violoncello
• Max Reger
  • Seven Sonatas for Solo Violin, Opus 91
• Alexander Scriabin
  • Piano Sonata #5
  • Piano Sonata #7 "White Mass"
  • Piano Sonata #9 "Black Mass"
• Roger Sessions
  • Piano Sonatas 1-3
  • Solo Violin Sonata
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Cello Sonata Opus 40
• Igor Stravinsky
  • Piano Sonata
  • Sonata for two pianos
• George Walker
  • Piano Sonata #4
• William Walton
  • Violin Sonata
• Eugène Ysaÿe
  • Six Violin Sonatas Opus 27

George Antheil (June 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American composer and pianist of Polish descent. ... Samuel Barber, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944 Samuel Osborne Barber (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of classical music best known for his Adagio for Strings. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and began to compose at the age of seven. ... Béla Bartók in 1927 Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ... Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9, 1885 – December 24, 1935) was an Austrian composer. ... Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez (IPA: /pjɛʁ.buˈlÉ›z/) (born March 26, 1925) is a conductor and composer of classical music. ... Frank Bridge (February 26, 1879 – January 10, 1941) was an English composer. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Aaron Copland conducting. ... John Corigliano (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of classical music. ... Claude Debussy Achille-Claude Debussy () (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a composer of European classical music. ... Henri Dutilleux (born January 22, 1916) is a French composer. ... George Enescu George Enescu (pronunciation in Romanian: ; known in France as Georges Enesco) (August 19, 1881, Liveni – May 4, 1955, Paris) was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, preeminent musician of the 20th century, one of the greatest interpreters of his time. ... Paul Hindemith (first name pronounced pah-ool)(November 16, 1895 – December 28, 1963) was a German composer, violist, teacher, theorist and conductor. ... Herbert (Norman) Howells (17 October 1892—23 February 1983) was an English composer and teacher. ... This photo from around 1913 shows Ives in his day job: he was the director of a successful insurance agency. ... LeoÅ¡ Janáček in 1928 LeoÅ¡ Janáček â–¶ (help· info) (July 3, 1854 in Hukvaldy, Moravia – August 12, 1928 in Ostrava) was a Czech composer. ... Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (IPA: /ˈzoltaːn ˈkodaːj/) (December 16, 1882 – March 6, 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist and philosopher. ... The church tower where Martinů was born and lived his youngest years Bohuslav Martinů â–¶ (help· info) (born in Polička, December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer. ... Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (January 7, 1899 - January 30, 1963) was a French composer. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokofev, 15/April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer and pianist, known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his music and generally considered to be one of the major composers of the 20th century. ... Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (March 19, 1873 – May 11, 1916) was a German composer, organist, pianist and teacher. ... Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Скря́бин, Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin; sometimes transliterated as Skryabin or Skrjabin) (6 January 1872–27 April 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. ... The fifth piano sonata, Op. ... The seventh piano sonata (Opus 64) written by Scriabin in 1911 is entitled White Mass. The piece is highly chromatic and atonal like Scriabins other late works. ... The ninth piano sonata (Opus 68) written by Scriabin in 1912-1913 is often known by the nickname Black Mass. Although the nickname was not invented by Scriabin, he personally approved of it. ... Roger Sessions (28 December 1896 – 16 March 1985) was an American composer, critic and teacher of music. ... Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (help· info) (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Å ostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906–August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... Igor Stravinsky in his middle ages. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Sir William Walton on the set of one of his operas Sir William Turner Walton, OM (March 29, 1902–March 8, 1983) was a British composer whose style was influenced by the works of Stravinsky, Sibelius and jazz. ... Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène Ysaÿe (July 16, 1858 – May 12, 1931) was a Belgian violinist and composer. ...

Sonatas in Pop Culture

In the 2000 video game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the Sonata of Awakening is a song you learn in the Deku Palace to raise the sunken Woodfall Temple.

References

• William S. Newman Sonata in the Classic Era (A History of the Sonata Idea) ISBN 0393006239
• William S. Newman The sonata in the Baroque Era ISBN 0393006220
• William S. Newman The sonata in the Classic Era ISBN 039395286X
• William S. Newman The sonata since Beethoven ISBN 0393952908
• William S. Newman Beethoven on Beethoven: Playing His Piano Music His Way ISBN 0393307190

• Charles Rosen Sonata Forms ISBN 0393026582
• Charles Rosen The Classical Style ISBN 0393317129
• Charles Rosen The Romantic Generation ISBN 0674779347

• Arnold Schoenberg Harmonielehre

• Heinrich Schenker Free Composition

• Felix Salzer Structural Hearing Volumes I & II

• Stanley Sadie ed, The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music