The Piano Sonata in the Classical Period The piano sonata was an important part of music during the Classical period . It characterizes the Classical era's new trend of musical form. Originally, the sonata was made up of several dance movements, but then in the Classical era, it changed to a fast-slow movement style, each of the movements being composed in one of the forms popular during the Classical period. These consisted of sonata-allegro, ternary, rondo, and theme and variations. Down through history many things characteristic of the sonata have remained the same: "most sonatas have been instrumental music, without voice parts, absolute music without program; concert or divisional music, without social function; solo or chamber music for one to four players, without or multiple performance of the parts; cyclic music, in two to four movements rather than one; and broadly conceived music, exhibiting some of the most extended designs of absolute music"(Newman 479). The sonata is a genre of chamber music, which increased in popularity during the classical period. Generally, it was played by and written for amateur musicians who "practiced and performed for polite society in the comfort of their own homes"(Wright 196

Paul: West Publishing Company, 1996. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980. Composers, such as Haydn, Mozart, Clementi, and Beethoven played key roles in the development of the piano sonata. "Every musician who aspired to join the company of composers working for the public generally began his career with keyboard compositions, namely with solo sonatas"(Newman 487). Another composer who made great contributions towards the sonata was Muzio Clementi. "The theme seems transformed or probed to its fundamentals, rather than merely varied"(Kerman 385). These sonatas show Clementi's mastery of the technique used in the sonata. They also include movements, which exhibit an understanding of stable structure. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980.