sonata
- a composition for one or two instruments, typically in three or four movements in contrasted forms and keys.
Origin of sonata
Examples from the Web for sonata
Contemporary Examples
One afternoon we were watching Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata.
From the first shots of Autumn Sonata it's clear that this is going to be slow going.
If the book were a piece of music, it would be a sonata of interlocking monologues.
With the dialogue all in Japanese, this feline plays a Tokyo Sonata of its own.
Stop puttering around, sit down at your desk, and write out the speech or practice the sonata 100 times.
Historical Examples
The sonata was finished, and then she sang—sang the "Angel's Serenade."
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
To one the sonata is a world of odour and beauty, to another of soothing only and sweetness.
A Dish Of OrtsGeorge MacDonald
I ventured to remark that Chopin had no special talent for the sonata form.
MelomaniacsJames Huneker
The sonata over, conversation was resumed with fresh vigour.
The Child of PleasureGabriele D'Annunzio
This was the crowning glory of the eighteenth century—the sonata.
A Popular History of the Art of MusicW. S. B. Mathews
sonata
- an instrumental composition, usually in three or more movements, for piano alone (piano sonata) or for any other instrument with or without piano accompaniment (violin sonata, cello sonata, etc)See also sonata form, symphony (def. 1), concerto (def. 1)
- a one-movement keyboard composition of the baroque period
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for sonata
n.
1690s, from Italian sonata "piece of instrumental music," literally "sounded" (i.e. "played on an instrument," as opposed to cantata "sung"), fem. past participle of sonare "to sound," from Latin sonare "to sound," from PIE *swene-, from root *swen- "to sound" (see sound (n.1)). Meaning narrowed by mid-18c. toward application to large-scale works in three or four movements.
sonata
A musical composition for one or two instruments, usually in three or four movements. The sonata of the classic era in music had a definite arrangement for its movements: the first and fourth had a fast tempo, the second had a slow tempo, and the third was in either playful style (a “scherzo”) or in dance form (a “minuet”).