''Sonata da chiesa'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: "church sonata") is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and is regarded an antecedent of later forms of 18th century instrumental music. It generally comprises four movements, typically a largo prelude followed by a

fugal In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking that indicates to playing quickly and brightly (from Italian meaning ''cheerful'') * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem b ...

, an expressive slow movement, and an allegro finale, although there are also many variations of this pattern. During the 17th century, church services were increasingly accompanied by music for ensembles rather than solo organ, with canzonas and

sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...

regularly substituted for the Proper during

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

and

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

. Many of these works, however, were not written explicitly as

liturgical music Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong, ...

and were often performed as concert pieces for entertainment. The term ''sonata da chiesa'' was originally used in its literal meaning of "church music", but later came to be used figuratively to contrast this genre of composition with the ''

sonata da camera ''Sonata da camera'' is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and basso continuo. It generally comprises a suite of several small pieces in the same mode or key that are suitable for dancing. A significant ...

'', which literally meant "chamber music", but generally comprised a suite of dances. The exemplary works in this form are by

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...

, whose Op. 1 (1681) and Op. 3 (1689) each consist of 12

trio sonatas Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

with alternating slow-fast-slow-fast movements (the first 8 of the ''Twelve concerti grossi'', Op. 6, follow this pattern as well). This four movement scheme is followed in J. S. Bach's three sonatas for unaccompanied violin, in the first five of his six sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord and in the first two of his three sonatas for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord.Violin Sonatas (CD 19–20): "Liner notes" by Clemens Romijn p. 13, and "Full tracklist" pp. 155–56 i
''J. S. Bach Complete Edition: Liner notes, sung texts, full tracklist''.

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also s ...

, August 2014 (re-release). By the mid-18th century, however, this style of music was increasingly out of date, although

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, for example, did compose a few early symphonies that followed the largo–allegro–minuet–allegro pattern.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

also composed 17 works that are called "church sonatas", but these consisted of but a single movement for organ and strings to be played between the

Epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

and the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

of the Mass.Zaslaw, Neal, with Cowdery, William eds., ''The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'', p. 109-112, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1990,

Notes

Further reading