Lexic.us

Definition of Sonata

1. Noun. A musical composition of 3 or 4 movements of contrasting forms.

Definition of Sonata

1. n. An extended composition for one or two instruments, consisting usually of three or four movements; as, Beethoven's sonatas for the piano, for the violin and piano, etc.

Definition of Sonata

1. Noun. (music) A musical composition for one or a few instruments, one of which is frequently a piano, in three or four movements that vary in key and tempo ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sonata

1. a type of musical composition [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sonata

Literary usage of Sonata

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. University Musical Encyclopedia by Louis Charles Elson (1912)
"sonatas and Fantasias for Piano: 279, sonata С major; 280, sonata F major; 281, sonata В flat major; 282, sonata E flat major; 283, sonata G major; 284, ..."

2. The Larger Forms of Musical Composition by Percy Goetschius (1915)
"79, first movement; similar, but more obviously Miniature sonata-allegro form. — sonata, op. ... Presto agitato in g minor (concise sonata-allegro form). ..."

3. Elson's Music Dictionary: Containing the Definition and Pronunciation of by Louis Charles Elson (1905)
"Haydn first established the classical sonata form, although Ph. Em. Bach, ... In the full sonata form the second movement would be in slow tempo. ..."

4. Elson's Music Dictionary: Containing the Definition and Pronunciation of by Louis Charles Elson (1905)
"In the full sonata form the second movement would be in slow tempo. In a three-movement sonata the slow movement becomes the central movement of the work. ..."

5. Lessons in Music Form: A Manual of Analysis of All the Structural Factors by Percy Goetschius (1904)
"THE sonata-ALLEGRO FORM. Origin of the Name. — The fully developed sonata-allegro form is the design in which the classic overture and the first movement of ..."

6. Elson's Music Dictionary: Containing the Definition and Pronunciation of by Louis Charles Elson (1905)
"Haydn first established the classical sonata form, although Ph. Em. Bach, ... In the full sonata form the second movement would be in slow tempo. ..."

7. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians by George Grove (1910)
"The terms 'sonata,' 'Canzone,' and 'Sinfonía' were originally used in a general way for instrumental settings of all kinds, without designating any special ..."

8. Critical and Historical Essays: Lectures Delivered at Columbia University by Edward MacDowell (1912)
"As a matter of fact, already in the seventeenth century, we find the word sonata applied to musical compositions; generally to pieces for the violin, ..."

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