Classical Music Appreciation----Musical Terms

SONATA

    *    comes from the Italian verb “sonare”, to sound, and hence, it means “sounded.”
         (indirectly, it means a sound piece)

    *     it is a musical form of a large scale, divided into separate pieces called
           “movements”

    *    usually, three or four movements make up a sonata

    *    the sonata movements can be independent of one another, or can be played through
         without any pause


SONATINA

• comes from the Italian to mean “little sound piece.” Generally, it is a piece that is
        shorter than a typical sonata, although it still is divided into movements like a
         typical sonata

Example: Sonatina in C Major, op. 36, no. 1 (Muzio Clementi)

CONCERTO

*    comes from the word “concert” in Italian

*     at first, the term focused on the solo instrument that would be performed
      'front and center’ in front of accompanying instruments in the Baroque era
      (1600-1725)

Example: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6 (Johann Sebastian Bach)

*     then, the concerto’s meaning changed in the Classical era (1725-1800), to mean
      a large orchestral work where a soloist or soloists would play in front of an
      orchestra, with flashy sections called “cadenzas”, usually played by the soloist
      while the orchestra is silent

Example: Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)