Sonata

An instrumental genre in several movements for a soloist or an ensemble. The original usage for the term " sonata " implied a composition that was to be played rather than sung. Later, the term " sonata " came to be understood as a four movement piece: slow, fast, slow, fast, as was used in the church sonata ( sonata da chiesa), or allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, as was used in the chamber sonata ( sonata da camera). As the sonata developed, it became longer and adopted the sonata-allegro form for the first movement, which was generally fast. The following movement was generally somewhat slower, and the number of movements varied, but was generally about three.a composition in three sections. exposition, development and recapitulation. the exposition uses two themes or subjects, and usually concludes with a coda, or short tail-piece.