Piano sonata
A multi-movement work for solo piano, typically with contrasting movements and a first movement in sonata form.
Sonata form: A musical structure commonly organized around exposition, development, and recapitulation. Many piano sonatas use it to shape their opening movement.
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven): Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1801 sonata in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, widely known as the Moonlight Sonata. Its quiet opening movement overturns expectations about sonata order and character.
Baroque keyboard sonata: A sonata for harpsichord or another keyboard instrument composed during the Baroque era. These earlier works supplied models that later piano sonatas reshaped.
Piano concerto: A work for solo piano and orchestra, usually organized into multiple movements. Unlike a piano sonata, it makes the soloist interact with an orchestra.
Movement (music): A self-contained section of a larger musical work, often distinct in tempo and character. A sonata’s contrasting movements create its large-scale sequence.
Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven): Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1804 piano sonata in C major, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein Sonata. Its scale and virtuosity exemplify the expanded ambitions of Beethoven’s middle period.
Domenico Scarlatti: An Italian composer whose more than 500 keyboard sonatas were mostly written in one movement. His compact sonatas established a distinctive keyboard tradition before the piano era.
Piano suite: A collection of instrumental pieces, often based on dance forms, intended to be performed as a set. Its linked pieces usually lack the sonata’s emphasis on large-scale formal argument.
Musical form: The organization of musical material into a coherent structure over time. Piano sonatas combine movement-level designs into a larger whole.
Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven): Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1818 piano sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106, known as the Hammerklavier Sonata. Its unusual length and technical demands push the genre toward symphonic scale.