What is Sonata in Music: Explanation and review of popular compositions

If you are a music student or enjoy listening to classical music, you must have come across the term ‘Sonata’. Let’s take a closer look at the Sonata form in Music.

Introduction

Sonata used to mean any piece of music that was played (as opposed to a cantata, a piece that was sung).Over the years, the term evolved and became quite important during the era of Classical music.

Sonata music composition usually has three or more movements that change musical keys. Its a composition for one or more solo instruments, one of which is usually keyboard instrument, however there are no vocals (Originally, sonata referred to music that was ‘sounded’, not ‘sung’).

Sonata can be for piano alone (piano sonata) or for any other instrument with or without piano accompaniment (violin sonata, cello sonata, etc.)

What is Sonata?

The Sonata form is one of the most commonly used forms in classical music.

If you’ve ever performed music written by either Hyden, Mozart or Beethoven, then you’ve probably encountered a work in Sonata form. The first movements of symphonies and concertos, as well as chamber and solo instrumental works by these composers are organized into Sonata form

The Sonata form contains two harmonically enclosed halves: the exposition is the first half and the development and recapitulation are the second half.

In terms of thematic development, the Sonata form is divided into three main sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.

Read: What is Symphony in Classical Music

Read: What is Concerto in Classical Music

Exposition

The main section is called the exposition. It often has two themes:

1. The primary theme is the tonic (meaning the key of the piece).
2. The second theme is often in Dominant (meaning the fifth tone or degree of a diatonic scale)

If a piece is in c-major the primary theme is in C major and the second theme is in G major. In a minor piece, the second theme is usually in a relative major or the third scale degree. For example, if the piece is in C minor, the primary theme would be in C minor and the second theme would be in E flat major

Development

The development is the most unstable section as anything can happen here harmonically (rules of basic music theory can be broken).

It usually begins in the new key only to quickly depart on an exploration of the other key areas before returning to the dominant area again the fifth scale degree which creates a strong expectation for the primary theme in the opening key.

Thematically composers might use a variety of tricks to reuse material – they may only use a fragment of a motif, they may restate a theme in different keys, or they may dress up a familiar theme in various forms.

Recapitulation

The recapitulation section is the homecoming section. In this section the first and second theme are both in the tonic, to close the entire Sonata form in the exact same tonic key in which it began, called a double return Recapitulation.

in other words, in a C major piece, the second theme is in G major in the exposition, and in C major in the recapitulation. The important difference signals that everything is now stable.

Occasionally, a development section features a false recapitulation, one that sounds like a melodic restatement of the opening theme, but the key is not actually the same as the beginning Exposition. In other words, we are not yet back to a place of stability until the recapitulation returns to the original tonic.

in short, Sonata form is about harmonic tension resolution.

• Harmonic instability begins during the transition section of the exposition
• Harmonic tension increases during development
• The tension is finally resolved during the recapitulation (perfect authentic cadence)

Checkout Haydn’s keyboard sonata in G major (Hob. XVI:27). It contains all three major sections of the Sonata form and provides an excellent major mode example of the Sonata.

Next time, when you go to a concert that includes a movement or a piece in Sonata form, try and hear the themes, the different sections, and hear what the composer is trying to communicate

Types of Sonatas

• Type 1 sonatas: Contain only an exposition and recapitulation with no link between them
• Type 2 sonatas: Recapitulation begins not with the onset of the primary theme, but substantially after the point, which is commonly around the secondary theme.
• Type 3 sonatas: Standard structure with expositions, developments, and recapitulations that normally begin with the primary theme in the tonic.
• Type 4 sonatas: These are sonata-rondos that begin with an expositional rotation that traverses the usual P TR ‘S/C pattern
• Type 5 sonatas: Involves concerto-sonata adaptations, which are blends between earlier ritornello principles and other sonata types. Read more.

The sonata, as generally accepted today, is a a piece of played music that usually follows the pattern of four movements: Allegro – a lively open piece. Andante, or Largo – a slower movement. Minuet, or Scherzo – a light, dance type movement. Finale – Rondo, or some other lively piece, sometimes a repeat of the Allegro.

Note that the Baroque use of the Sonata was bit different to that in the Classical and Romantic periods.

Popular Piano Sonatas

Checkout these popular sonata music compositions by great composers.

• Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas
• Beethoven: Complete Sonatas for Piano & Cello
• Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas, Collector’s Edition
• Emil Gilels: Beethoven Sonatas
• Mozart Piano Sonatas
• Haydn: Piano Sonatas
• Schubert: Piano Sonatas/Impromptus [9 CD Box Set]
• Schubert: Piano Sonatas
• Mozart: The Violin Sonatas
• Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas
• Bach: Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
• Bach: Sonatas & Partitas 1
• Brahms: The Cello Sonatas

Here’s Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, one of the more famous pieces in classical music.

Classical Music Sonatas

• Mozart: The Violin Sonatas
• Schubert: Piano Works: Sonatas / Moments Musicaux / Impromptus / ‘Wanderer’ Fantasia
• Bach: Sonatas & Partitas
• Brahms: The Cello Sonatas
• Mozart: Piano Sonatas
• Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas Concertos Box Set