is there any meaning by what the composer calls his/her composition. What i mean is, if i see a piece/score called etude, sonata, rondo...etc, what should i suspect?
Can u categorize these names? sonata= slow
rondo=like a march
or what?
Full Version: Sonata, Etude...?
Sonata is for solo instrument ( usually with keyboard accompaniment if not piano)
3 or 4 movements with different style/tempo.
A Rondo may be a movement from a larger work. i has a theme which keeps on returning, often with some variation each time.
Etude is French for Study so is likely to be a pice which was originally intended for teaching.
3 or 4 movements with different style/tempo.
A Rondo may be a movement from a larger work. i has a theme which keeps on returning, often with some variation each time.
Etude is French for Study so is likely to be a pice which was originally intended for teaching.
Hi,
Just to give you some very brief idea.
Sonatas generally have 3 movements but sometimes they can consist of two or four movements. Generally the first and the last movement will be in the key it was written in, e.g. generally the 1st movement and the last movement of Sonata in C will be in C while some intermediate movement can be in other key. The pace of the movement can be in 'fast' - 'slower' -'fast'. A typical combination of movements can be Allegro - Cantabile - Rondo, in general second movements of sonatas are slower than the last / first movement however there are always exceptions depending on composer.
Etude/Study are generally more technically challenging, they are generally 'faster' likes Allegro, Vivace or Presto. There can be very slow Etude as well.
Rondo genarally tends to be in quicker pace. It generally consist a theme and repeating the theme while the music go on. (Please don't confuse with Variations) I will try to answer more next week, need to finish off a report
Just to give you some very brief idea.
Sonatas generally have 3 movements but sometimes they can consist of two or four movements. Generally the first and the last movement will be in the key it was written in, e.g. generally the 1st movement and the last movement of Sonata in C will be in C while some intermediate movement can be in other key. The pace of the movement can be in 'fast' - 'slower' -'fast'. A typical combination of movements can be Allegro - Cantabile - Rondo, in general second movements of sonatas are slower than the last / first movement however there are always exceptions depending on composer.
Etude/Study are generally more technically challenging, they are generally 'faster' likes Allegro, Vivace or Presto. There can be very slow Etude as well.
Rondo genarally tends to be in quicker pace. It generally consist a theme and repeating the theme while the music go on. (Please don't confuse with Variations) I will try to answer more next week, need to finish off a report
CHEERS for ur replies, but how about a minuet, because i always think there easy but not too easy and i liike playing those! how about u?
A minuet is a stately dance in 3 time.
stately dance, yes, but not necessarily in 3 time.... I thought usually in 4/4. but whatever the standard, I've played at least 1 if not 2 in 4/4 recently...
| QUOTE |
| stately dance, yes, but not necessarily in 3 time.... I thought usually in 4/4. but whatever the standard, I've played at least 1 if not 2 in 4/4 recently... |
Sorry, a minuet is by definition always in 3/4 time. What are the ones you have played in 4/4? A dance in 4/4 may be a gavotte or a bourree.
| QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Dec 17 2004, 11:27 PM) |
| stately dance, yes, but not necessarily in 3 time.... I thought usually in 4/4. but whatever the standard, I've played at least 1 if not 2 in 4/4 recently... |
Hmm, it wasn't a minuet then...the steps couldn't accommodate 4 beats to the bar.
| QUOTE (sbhoa @ Dec 17 2004, 03:53 PM) |
| Sonata is for solo instrument ( usually with keyboard accompaniment if not piano) |
That is the normal, but not invariable, usage from about 1670 to the present. The term originally meant "sounded" (on instruments) as distinct from "cantata", meaning "sung". An early use is the "Sonata pian' e forte" of 1608 by Giovanni Gabrieli. This is a single movement for eight instruments in two choirs. Choir 1 consists of Cornetto and three Trombones,* Choir 2 of Violino (probably a viola, as it goes down to D middle bass clef) and three Trombones. For many years it was (may still be, for all I know) the earliest surviving work with dynamic markings and also the earliest with the parts assigned to particular instruments. A more recent example is the Sonata of 1922 by Poulenc, which is for trumpet, horn and trombone; it has three movements.
* the narrow bore instrument with a small bell, also known as the sackbut, which is much quieter than the modern trombone.
| QUOTE |
| That is the normal, but not invariable, |
That is why I put in 'usually'.
| QUOTE (sbhoa @ Dec 18 2004, 05:16 PM) | ||
That is why I put in 'usually'. |
Well, that qualified the bracketed bit, about piano, and was necessary, because sonatas predate pianos by at least 100 years and until about 1770 the usual accompanying instrument in a duo sonata was organ or harpsichord. Moreover, I forgot to note that the trio sonata (which was usually played by four instruments, two treble, one bass and keyboard) was more popular than the duo sonata throughout the late Baroque (c. 1670-1760), and the solo sonata was rare until the Classical period, when Haydn and Mozart started writing multi-movement pieces of that title for fortepianos and pianofortes.
I'm just waiting for someone to ask the meaning of Sonata form. That did make a thoroughly enjoyable Music lesson last year!
I got a book on sonata. Will dig it up on Christmas and tell you after the break.
Look - Sonata form is dead easy:
1st subject - bridge (modulation) to -
2nd subject.
Development (variations on both subjects or at least the first)
Recapitulation
(optionally) a coda.
An absolute classic in this form is the 1st movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
There.
1st subject - bridge (modulation) to -
2nd subject.
Development (variations on both subjects or at least the first)
Recapitulation
(optionally) a coda.
An absolute classic in this form is the 1st movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
There.
My god u are certainly a touchy person aren't you Rhapsodin! Nobody asked for a definition! Read things properly! I said something completely light-hearted and once again you act as if I have mortaly offended you. Oh and when your studying a piece in sonata form for the first time, it is never that simple.
| QUOTE |
| My god u are certainly a touchy person |
| QUOTE |
| I said something completely light-hearted and once again you act as if I have mortaly offended you |
Please don't get any idea I'm one of these over-pampered, fastidious, easily-offended people - I assure you I'm not. Say what you like to me. I know you love me really...
The word I wanted to use was indeed TOUCHY. No one asked for an answer to a question, but you posted a reply as if you had had to explain this a thousand times. I don't need the answer. My teacher and Mendellsohn's Hebrides overture made sure to that (that WAS a particularly entertaining music lesson 
) Oh and I'm sure I do love you... make take some time, and at least one topic for me to agree with you on, for me to truly realise it 
) Oh and I'm sure I do love you... make take some time, and at least one topic for me to agree with you on, for me to truly realise it
| QUOTE (Hand @ Toe, Knee,Dec 20 2004, 02:50 PM) |
| No one asked for an answer to a question, but you posted a reply as if you had had to explain this a thousand times. |
Well, you know me, I hate to be contentious but I recall the OP asking...
"Can u categorize these names? sonata= slow
rondo=like a march
or what?"
- looks slightly like a question. I tried to give a succinct answer hoping the OP may appreciate it.
Glad you enjoyed your lesson on it all the same.
R
I thought the OP meant sonata as in Piano Sonata. Unless you have come across a pice of music with a note at the top saying "sonata form." Please tell me if you have...
| QUOTE (Hand @ Toe, Knee,Dec 20 2004, 03:04 PM) |
| I thought the OP meant sonata as in Piano Sonata. Unless you have come across a pice of music with a note at the top saying "sonata form." Please tell me if you have... |
A possible interpetation but, as you can see, not mine. "Sonata" is one of those words that has changed its meaning over the centuries. In the music that many of us play, from several different centuries, it is useful to know that it doesn't always mean the same thing.
| QUOTE |
| I thought the OP meant sonata as in Piano Sonata. Unless you have come across a pice of music with a note at the top saying "sonata form." Please tell me if you have... |
And these forums are for the benefit of everyone, not just the OP, so I would say thank-you to Rhapsodin for clarifying something that has been a bit confusing to me for some time!
Thanks Rhapsodin
I fail to see what was touchy or any way inappropriate about Rhapsodin's response on sonata form.
For what it's worth...
Maggie
For what it's worth...
Maggie
I am not sure is it a right interpretation on what he/she said.
' Look - Sonata form is dead easy' does sound a bit likes he/she has been annoyed by the 'insufficient' knowledge of others.
Sorry if you did not mean that.
' Look - Sonata form is dead easy' does sound a bit likes he/she has been annoyed by the 'insufficient' knowledge of others.
Sorry if you did not mean that.
Thankyou!!! and the final "There." did it for me too. I know I wasn't going insane! Once again sorry Rhapsodin, I know you didn't mean it that way!!!
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