sonata

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a substantial musical composition for one instrument or a small group, usually arranged in several contrasting movements

   The pianist performed a Beethoven sonata in three movements.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: an instrumental composition, especially one contrasted with a cantata for voices

   The program paired a seventeenth-century sonata with a sacred cantata.

Common collocations

• sonata form Noun + noun

Borrowed from Italian sonata, literally 'sounded' or 'played,' the feminine past participle of sonare, 'to sound,' from Latin sonare. The term originally distinguished music played on instruments from a cantata, music that was sung.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images