piano sonata
Multi-movement keyboard work
A piano sonata is a substantial composition for solo piano, typically in three or four movements with contrasting tempos and characters.
The form reached its height with Beethoven, whose thirty-two piano sonatas remain central to the repertoire: She's learning the Moonlight Sonata.
Mozart, Schubert, and Chopin also wrote celebrated examples.
- BeethovenGerman classical music giant
- fingeringNote-playing hand technique
- recapitulationSummarizing what came before
- first movementInitial orchestral section
- movementChange in position
allegro · Mozart · Haydn · exposition · Brahms · phrasing · adagio · Prokofiev · coda · keyboard action · black keys · white keys · development · Rachmaninoff · Schubert · rondo · dynamics · pedaling
- Beethoven worksconcerto, trio, quintet
- classical musicBach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms
- Classical PianoBach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, concerto
- piano musicfour hands, nocturnes, mazurkas, boogie-woogie, polonaises
- piano piecesnocturne, etude, prelude, ballade, impromptu
- Piano WorldSteinway, recital, concertos
instrumentation/timbre
piano sonataart song
Composed vocal setting poetry
lieder · aria · violin sonata
piano, sonata, pianos, sonatas, pianissimo, pianist, pianists, fortepiano, pianoforte