Sonata (music)

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.

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 the felt to be in a particular form, even if not labelled as "sonata".

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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.

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