A sonatina (French: “sonatine”, German: “Sonatine") is a small

sonata 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 history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

. As a musical term, ''sonatina'' has no single strict definition; it is rather a title applied by the composer to a piece that is in basic

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

, but is shorter and lighter in character, or technically more elementary, than a typical sonata. The term has been in use at least since the late baroque; there is a one-page, one-movement harpsichord piece by Handel called "Sonatina". It is most often applied to solo keyboard works, but a number of composers have written sonatinas for violin and piano (see list under violin sonata), for example the Sonatina in G major for Violin and Piano by Antonín Dvořák, and occasionally for other instruments, for example the Clarinet Sonatina by Malcolm Arnold.

Term

The title "Sonatina" was used occasionally by J. S. Bach for short orchestral introductions to large vocal works, as in his cantata ''Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit'', BWV 106, a practice with precedent in the work of the earlier German composer Nicolaus Bruhns. This is the only sense in which Bach used the term sonatina, although he composed many chamber and solo sonatas for various instruments. As with many musical terms, ''sonatina'' is used inconsistently. The most common meaning is a short, easy

suitable for students, such as the piano sonatinas of Clementi. However, by no means are all sonatinas technically undemanding, for example the virtuoso sonatinas of Busoni and Alkan, and the ''Sonatine'' of Ravel, whose title reflects its neo-classical quality. On the other hand, some sonatas could equally have been called sonatinas: for example

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's Op. 49, titled by the composer "''Zwei Leichte Sonaten für das Pianoforte''" ("Two Easy Sonatas for Piano") comprise only two short movements each, a sonata-allegro and a short

rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

(No. 1) or

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form tha ...

(No. 2), all well within the grasp of the intermediate student. However, other works titled "Sonatina", such as the Sonatinas in G and in F major, have been attributed to Beethoven.

Form

In general, a sonatina will have one or more of the following characteristics: brevity; fewer movements than the four of the late classical sonata; technical simplicity; a lighter, less serious character; and (in post-romantic music) a neo-classical style or a reference to earlier music. Muzio Clementi's sonatinas op. 36 are very popular among students. The first (or only) movement is generally in an abbreviated

, with little or no development of the themes. For this reason, a sonatina is sometimes defined, especially in British usage, as a short piece in

in which the development section is quite perfunctory or entirely absent:''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''
sonata
/ref> the exposition is followed either immediately by a brief bridge passage to modulate back to the home key for the recapitulation or the start of recapitulation itself without a bridge. Subsequent movements (at most two) may be in any of the common forms, such as a

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

, a slow theme-and-variations, or a

Composers

For solo piano

* Alexander Borodin * Alexander Goedicke * Alexandre Tansman * Anton Diabelli *

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

(1959) *

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

Sonatina (1915) *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Sonatina in G major (Anh.5 No.1, attributed) *

Sonatina in F major (Anh.5 No.2, attributed) * Camargo Guarnieri * Charles-Valentin AlkanSonatina in A minor, Op.61 (1861) * Carl Czerny * Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach * Charles Koechlin * Erik Satie *

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

* Francisco Mignone * Francisco Pulgar Vidal * Frank Lynes * Franz Joseph Haydn * Friedrich Kuhlau * Fritz Spindler * Geghuni Chitchian — Sonatina (1987) * Georg Benda *

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

* Heinrich Lichner * Ignaz Pleyel * Jan Ladislav Dussek *

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

* John Ireland'' Sonatina'' (1926–27) * Lars-Erik Larsson — Sonatina No. 1, Op. 16 (1938) * Lars-Erik Larsson — Sonatina No. 2 * Lars-Erik Larsson — Sonatina No. 3, Op. 41 (1950) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

- Sonatine (Ravel)(1905) * Mikis Theodorakis – Sonatina * Muzio Clementi * Osvaldo Lacerda * Stephen Heller * Swan Hennessy (Op. 43, 1911) * Tigran Mansurian — Sonatina No. 1 (1963) * Tigran Mansurian — Sonatina No. 2 (1987) *

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 ...

– "Six Viennese Sonatinas" (1805) * York Bowen Piano sonatina op.144

For instrumental duos

* Antonín Dvořák Sonatina for violin and piano (1893) * Zdeněk Fibich - Violin Sonatina, Op. 27 *

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...

Sonatina for clarinet and piano (1956) * Walter Piston Sonatina for violin and harpsichord (1945) * Mikis Theodorakis – 2 Sonatinas for violin and piano

Other sonatinas

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

Serenade for Strings, 1st movement "Pezzo in forma di sonatina" (1880)

References

{{Authority control Sonatina