Piano sonata

A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Berg), others with two movements (Haydn, Beethoven), some contain five (Brahms' Third Piano Sonata, Czerny's Piano Sonata No. 1, Godowsky's Piano Sonata) or even more movements. The first movement is generally composed in sonata form.

The Baroque keyboard sonata In the Baroque era, the use of the term "sonata" generally referred to either the sonata da chiesa (church sonata) or sonata da camera (chamber sonata), both of which were sonatas for various instruments (usually one or more violins plus basso continuo). The keyboard sonata was relatively neglected by most composers.

The sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti (of which there are over 500) were the hallmark of the Baroque keyboard sonata, though they were, for the most part, unpublished during Scarlatti's lifetime. The majority of these sonatas are in one-movement binary form, both sections being in the same tempo and utilizing the same thematic material. These sonatas are prized for both their technical difficulty and their musical and formal ingenuity. The influence of Spanish folk music is evident in Scarlatti's sonatas.

Other composers of Baroque keyboard sonatas (which were primarily written in two or three movements) include Marcello, Domenico Alberti, Giustini, Durante and Platti. J.S. Bach's popular Italian Concerto, despite the name, can also be considered a keyboard sonata.

Piano sonatas in the Classical era Although various composers in the 17th century had written keyboard pieces which they entitled "Sonata", it was only in the classical era, when the piano displaced the earlier harpsichord and sonata form rose to prominence as a principle of musical composition, that the term "piano sonata" acquired a definite meaning and a characteristic form.

All the well-known Classical era composers, especially Friedrich Kuhlau, Joseph Haydn, Muzio Clementi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven, wrote many piano sonatas. Muzio Clementi wrote more than 110 piano sonatas. He is well known as "The Father of the Pianoforte". Clementi's Opus 2 was the first real piano sonata composed. The much younger Franz Schubert also wrote many. His later sonatas were inspired by the Classical forms of Haydn and Mozart and the expansion of the forms in Beethoven’s sonatas.

The 32 sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, including the well-known Pathétique Sonata, the Piano Sonata No. 14, and the Piano Sonata No. 23 are often considered the pinnacle of piano sonata composition.

Piano sonatas in the Romantic era As the Romantic era progressed after Beethoven and Schubert, piano sonatas continued to be composed, but in lesser numbers as the form took on a somewhat academic tinge and competed with shorter genres more compatible with Romantic compositional style. Franz Liszt's comprehensive "three-movements-in-one" Sonata in B minor draws on the concept of thematic transformation first introduced by Schubert in his Wanderer Fantasie of 1822. Piano sonatas have been written throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and up to the present day.

Noted piano sonatas

Classical Era

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Württemberg Sonata No. 1 in A minor, H. 30, Wq. 49/1 'Prussian' Sonata No. 4 in C minor, Wq. 48/4 Antonio Rosetti Piano Sonata in F Major E4 Baldassare Galuppi Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Major Friedrich Kuhlau Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major op.4 Piano Sonata in E-flat Major op.127 Johann Baptist Cramer Sonata in A-flat major for piano, Op. 46 ("Die Jungfrau von Orleans") Sonata in A-flat major for piano, Op. 23, No. 1 (1799) Ludwig van Beethoven, (See Piano sonatas (Beethoven)) Piano Sonata in E-flat major Piano Sonata in F minor Piano Sonata in D major Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2 No. 3 Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major "Grand Sonata", Op. 7 Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10 No. 3 Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor "Pathétique", Op. 13 Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14 No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major, Op. 22 Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26 Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major "Sonata quasi una fantasia", Op. 27 No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Sonata quasi una fantasia" ("Moonlight"), Op. 27 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major "Pastoral", Op. 28 Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31 No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor "Tempest", Op. 31 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major "The Hunt", Op. 31 No. 3 Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major "Waldstein", Op. 53 Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor "Appassionata", Op. 57 Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major "À Thérèse", Op. 78 Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major "Cuckoo", Op. 79 Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major "Les Adieux", Op. 81a Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101 Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major "Hammerklavier", Op. 106 Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 Piano Sonata No. 31 in A♭ major, Op. 110 Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 Clementi, Muzio Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 24 No. 2 Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25 No. 5 Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 40 No. 1 Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 40 No. 2 Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 50 No. 3 Dussek, Jan Ladislav Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 44 Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp minor "Élégie Harmonique", Op. 61 Piano Sonata No. 28 in F minor, "L'Invocation", Op. 77 Haydn, Franz Joseph Piano Sonata No. 33 in C minor, Hob. XVI:20 Piano Sonata No. 53 in E minor, Hob. XVI:34 Piano Sonata No. 60 in C major, Hob. XVI:50 Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major, Hob. XVI:52 Hummel, Johann Nepomuk Piano Sonata No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Op. 81 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, (See List of solo piano compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major (KV. 279/189d) Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major (KV. 280/189e) Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-flat major (KV. 281/189f) Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major (KV. 282/189g) Piano Sonata No. 5 in G major (KV. 283/189h) Piano Sonata No. 6 in D major, “Dürnitz” (KV. 284/205b) Piano Sonata No. 7 in C major (KV. 309/284b) Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor (KV. 310/300d) Piano Sonata No. 9 in D major (KV. 311/284c) Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major (KV. 330/300h) Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major (KV. 331/300i) Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major (KV. 332/300k) Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major "Linz Sonata" (KV. 333/315c) Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor (KV. 457) Piano Sonata for four-hands in C major (KV. 521) Piano Sonata No. 15 in F major (3rd Mvt: KV. 494; 1st, 2nd Mvt, & 3rd Mvt revision: KV. 533) Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major (KV. 545) Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-flat major (KV. 570) Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major (KV. 576) Piano Sonata ‘No. 19’ in F major (KV. 547a/Anh. 135) Piano Sonata ‘No. 20’ in B-flat major (KV. 498a/Anh. 136) Maria Hester Park Sonata in C major op.7 Marianna Auenbrugger Piano Sonata in E-flat major Marianna Martines Piano Sonata No.3 in A Major

Romantic

Alkan, Charles-Valentin Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges' Isaac Albéniz Piano Sonata in A flat Major op.68 (1886) Victor Bendix Piano Sonata in G minor, op. 26 (published 1901) Vincent d'Indy Piano Sonata in E major op.63 Brahms, Johannes Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1 Piano Sonata No. 2 in F minor, Op. 2 Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5 Chopin, Frédéric Piano Sonata No. 1 (Chopin) Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35, "Funeral March" Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 Carl Czerny Piano Sonata No. 10 in B-flat Major Op. 268 Dukas, Paul Piano Sonata in E flat minor Grieg, Edvard Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7 Hensel, Fanny Ostersonate (Easter Sonata), piano sonata in A major Liszt, Franz Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata (often erroneously referred to as the "Dante Sonata") Sonata in B minor Joseph Woelfl Piano Sonata in C minor op.25 Piano Sonata in D major op.58 MacDowell, Edward Sonata Tragica, Op. 45 Sonata Eroica, Op. 50 Third Sonata, Op. 57 Fourth Sonata, Op. 59 Mendelssohn, Felix Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6 Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105 Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106 Rachmaninoff, Sergei Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36 Schubert, Franz, (See List of solo piano compositions by Franz Schubert) Piano Sonata No. 1 in E major, D 157 Piano Sonata No. 2 in C major, D 279 Piano Sonata No. 3 in E major, D 459 Piano Sonata No. 4 in E minor, D 769A Piano Sonata No. 5 in A minor, D 537 Piano Sonata No. 6 in A-flat major, D 557 Piano Sonata No. 7 in E minor, D 566 Piano Sonata No. 8 in D-flat major, D 568 Piano Sonata No. 9 in E-flat major, D 568 Piano Sonata No. 10 in F-sharp minor, D 571 Piano Sonata No. 11 in B major, D 575 Piano Sonata No. 12 in C major, D 613 Piano Sonata No. 13 in F minor, D 625 Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, D 655 Piano Sonata No. 15 in A major, D 664 Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D 784 Piano Sonata No. 17 in C major, D 840 Piano Sonata No. 18 in A minor, D 845 Piano Sonata No. 19 in D major "Gasteiner", D 850 Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major "Fantaisie", D 894 Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Minor, D 958 Piano Sonata No. 22 in A Major, D 959 Piano Sonata No. 23 in B-flat major, D 960 Schumann, Clara Piano Sonata in G minor (1841–42) Schumann, Robert Piano Sonata No. 1 (Schumann) in F-sharp minor, Op. 11 "Grosse Sonate" Piano Sonata No. 2 (Schumann) in G minor, Op. 22 Piano Sonata No. 3 (Schumann) in F minor, Op. 14 "Concerto without Orchestra" Julius Reubke Piano Sonata (Reubke) Sibelius, Jean Piano Sonata in F major, Op. 12 Weber, Carl Maria von Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 24 (J. 138) Piano Sonata No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 39 (J. 199) Piano Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 49 (J. 206) Piano Sonata No. 4 in E minor, Op. 70 (J. 287) Ludwig Schuncke Grande Sonata in G minor Op. 3 (1832) Richard Strauss Piano Sonata in B minor (Strauss) op.5 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Piano Sonata in G major (Tchaikovsky) op.37 Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor (Tchaikovsky) op.80 Xaver Scharwenka Piano Sonata No. 1 in C-sharp minor, Op. 6

Modern (1900-present)

Alwyn, William Sonata alla Toccata (1945–46) Mily Balakirev Piano Sonata op.102 in B-flat Minor (fugato sonata) Barber, Samuel Sonata for Piano in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26 Barraqué, Jean Piano Sonata (1950–52) Bartók, Béla Piano Sonata, Sz.80 Vasyl Barvinsky Piano Sonata in D Flat Major Bax, Arnold Piano Sonata in F♯ minor No. 1 (1910) Piano Sonata No. 2 (1919) Piano Sonata in E-flat (Bax) Piano Sonata No. 3 (1926) Piano Sonata No. 4 in G major (1934) Alban Berg Piano Sonata (Berg) op.1 Berkeley, Lennox Piano Sonata in A major, Op. 20 (1941–45) Ernest Bloch Piano Sonata B.69 Boulez, Pierre Piano Sonata No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 3 (Unfinished: only two of the five movements have been published.) Bridge, Frank Piano Sonata, H.160 Elliott Carter Piano Sonata 1945-46 Cochran, Julian Piano Sonata No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 2 Copland, Aaron Piano Sonata Dutilleux, Henri Piano Sonata, Op. 1 George Enescu Piano Sonata No. 3 (Enescu) Ulvi Cemal Erkin Piano Sonata (1946) Fairouz, Mohammed Piano Sonata No. 1 "Reflections on Exile" Piano Sonata No. 2 "The Last Resistance" Samuil Feinberg Piano Sonata No. 3 op.3 in G Minor Ferguson, Howard Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 8 (1938–40) Ginastera, Alberto Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22