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.

References

There are many books on the sonata form and history of the sonata, among them

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The History of the Sonata Idea

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• 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 Beeethoven on Beethoven
• Charles Rosen Sonata Forms ISBN 0393026582
• Charles Rosen The Classical Style
• Charles Rosen The Romantic Generation
• Arnold Schoenberg Harmonielehre
• Heinrich Schenker Free Composition
• Felix Salzer Structural Hearing Volumes I & II
• Stanley Sadie ed, The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music