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Sonata form is one of the most influential ideas in the history of Western classical music.Since the establishment of the practice by composers like C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert and the codification of this practice into teaching and theory, the practice of writing works in sonata form has changed considerably.
In music, a sonata (/ s ə ˈ n ɑː t ə /; pl. sonate) [a] literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian cantare, "to sing"), a piece sung. [1]: 17 The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until the Classical era, when it took on increasing importance.
The term sonata is first found in the 17th century, when instrumental music had just begun to become increasingly separated from vocal music. The original meaning of the term (derived from the Italian word suonare , to sound on instrument) referred to a piece for playing, distinguished from cantata , a piece for singing.
Flute sonata – Sonata specifically composed for the flute. Sonatina – Short sonata, often simpler in structure and melody, used as a teaching tool or for less formal occasions. Trio sonata – Form of sonata for two melodic instruments and basso continuo. Suite – Set of instrumental compositions, typically in dance form, played in a sequence.
Although various composers in the 17th century had written keyboard pieces which they entitled "Sonata", it was only in the classical era, when the piano displaced the earlier harpsichord and sonata form rose to prominence as a principle of musical composition, that the term "piano sonata" acquired a definite meaning and a characteristic form.
The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, [1] with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era .
In the field of music theory, the term Sonata Cycle refers to the layout of a multi-movement work where the movements are recognizably in the forms of the tradition of classical music. It differs from the term cyclic form in that there is no unifying motive or theme used in all the movements. The standard sonata cycle has four movements, broken ...
Sonata Theory understands the rhetorical layout of a sonata as progressing through a set of action spaces and moments of "structural punctuation." [8] These action spaces largely correlate with the "themes" or "groups" of the sonata, though each space is differentiated primarily by the unique generic goal that the music pursues within that particular space.