Piano sonata

For compositions titled "Piano Sonata", see Piano Sonata No. 1 (disambiguation).

Ludwig van Beethoven's manuscript sketch for Piano Sonata No. 28, Movement IV, Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit (Allegro), in his own handwriting. The piece was completed in 1816.

A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movements (Haydn, Beethoven), some contain five (Brahms' Third Piano Sonata, Czerny's Piano Sonata No. 1, Godowsky's Piano Sonata) or even more movements. The first movement is generally composed in sonata form.

The Baroque keyboard sonata

In the Baroque era, the use of the term "sonata" generally referred to either the sonata da chiesa (church sonata) or sonata da camera (chamber sonata), both of which were sonatas for various instruments (usually one or more violins plus basso continuo). The keyboard sonata was relatively neglected by most composers.

The sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti (of which there are over 500) were the hallmark of the Baroque keyboard sonata, though they were, for the most part, unpublished during Scarlatti's lifetime. The majority of these sonatas are in one-movement binary form, both sections being in the same tempo and utilizing the same thematic material. These sonatas are prized for both their technical difficulty and their musical and formal ingenuity. The influence of Spanish folk music is evident in Scarlatti's sonatas.

Other composers of Baroque keyboard sonatas (which were primarily written in two or three movements) include Marcello, Domenico Alberti , Giustini, Durante and Platti. J.S. Bach's popular Italian Concerto, despite the name, can also be considered a keyboard sonata.

Piano sonatas in the Classical era

Although various composers in the 17th century had written keyboard pieces which they entitled "Sonata", it was only in the classical era, when the piano displaced the earlier harpsichord and sonata form rose to prominence as a principle of musical composition, that the term "piano sonata" acquired a definite meaning and a characteristic form.

All the well-known Classical era composers, especially Friedrich Kuhlau, Joseph Haydn, Muzio Clementi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven, wrote many piano sonatas. Muzio Clementi wrote more than 110 piano sonatas. He is well known as "The Father of the Pianoforte". Clementi's Opus 2 was the first real piano sonata composed. The much younger Franz Schubert also wrote many. His later sonatas were inspired by the Classical forms of Haydn and Mozart and the expansion of the forms in Beethoven’s sonatas.

The 32 sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, including the well-known Pathétique Sonata, the Moonlight Sonata, and the Appassionata Sonata are often considered the pinnacle of piano sonata composition.

Piano sonatas in the Romantic era

As the Romantic era progressed after Beethoven and Schubert, piano sonatas continued to be composed, but in lesser numbers as the form took on a somewhat academic tinge and competed with shorter genres more compatible with Romantic compositional style. Franz Liszt's comprehensive "three-movements-in-one" Sonata in B minor draws on the concept of thematic transformation first introduced by Schubert in his Wanderer Fantasie of 1822. Piano sonatas have been written throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and up to the present day.

Noted piano sonatas

Classical Era

• Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
  • Württemberg Sonata No. 1 in A minor, H. 30, Wq. 49/1
  • 'Prussian' Sonata No. 4 in C minor, Wq. 48/4
• Antonio Rosetti
  • Piano Sonata in F Major E4
• Baldassare Galuppi
  • Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Major
• Friedrich Kuhlau
  • Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major op.4
  • Piano Sonata in E-flat Major op.127
• Johann Baptist Cramer
  • Sonata in A-flat major for piano, Op. 46 ("Die Jungfrau von Orleans")
  • Sonata in A-flat major for piano, Op. 23, No. 1 (1799)
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Piano Sonata, WoO 51 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand Sonata"
  • Piano Sonata No. 5 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 6 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 7 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique"
  • Piano Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 10 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 11 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major Op. 26 "Funeral March"
  • Piano Sonata No. 13 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight"
  • Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 "Pastoral"
  • Piano Sonata No. 16 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest"
  • Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt"
  • Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1
  • Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2
  • Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"
  • Piano Sonata No. 22 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
  • Piano Sonata No. 24 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 "Cuckoo"
  • Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Op. 81a "Les Adieux"
  • Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven)
  • Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101
  • Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier"
  • Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109
  • Piano Sonata No. 31 in A♭ major, Op. 110
  • Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
• Clementi, Muzio
  • Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 24 No. 2
  • Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25 No. 5
  • Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 40 No. 1
  • Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 40 No. 2
  • Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 50 No. 3
• Dussek, Jan Ladislav
  • Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 44
  • Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp minor "Élégie Harmonique", Op. 61
  • Piano Sonata No. 28 in F minor, "L'Invocation", Op. 77
• Haydn, Franz Joseph
  • Piano Sonata No. 33 in C minor, Hob. XVI:20
  • Piano Sonata No. 60 in C major, Hob. XVI:50
  • Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major, Hob. XVI:52
• Hummel, Johann Nepomuk
  • Piano Sonata No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Op. 81
• Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-flat major (K. 281/189f)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major (K. 283)
  • Piano Sonata No. 6 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 7 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor (K. 310/300d)
  • Piano Sonata No. 9 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major (K. 330)
  • Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major (K. 331/300i)
  • Piano Sonata No. 12 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major (K. 333/315c)
  • Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor (K. 457)
  • Piano Sonata No. 15 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major (K. 545)
  • Piano Sonata No. 17 (Mozart)
  • Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major (K. 576)
  • Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K. 498a
• Maria Hester Park
  • Sonata in C major op.7
• Marianna Auenbrugger
  • Piano Sonata in E-flat major

Romantic

• Alkan, Charles-Valentin
  • Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges'
• Victor Bendix
  • Piano Sonata in G minor, op. 26 (published 1901)
• Vincent d'Indy
  • Piano Sonata in E major op.63
• Brahms, Johannes
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5
• Chopin, Frédéric
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 (Chopin)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35, "Funeral March"
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
• Carl Czerny
  • Piano Sonata No. 10 in B-flat Major Op. 268
• Dukas, Paul
  • Piano Sonata in E flat minor
• Grieg, Edvard
  • Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7
• Liszt, Franz
  • Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata (often erroneously referred to as the "Dante Sonata")
  • Sonata in B minor
• Joseph Woelfl
  • Piano Sonata in D major op.58
• MacDowell, Edward
  • Sonata Tragica, Op. 45
  • Sonata Eroica, Op. 50
  • Third Sonata, Op. 57
  • Fourth Sonata, Op. 59
• Mendelssohn, Fanny
  • Ostersonate (Easter Sonata), piano sonata in A major
• Mendelssohn, Felix
  • Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6
  • Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105
  • Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106
• Rachmaninoff, Sergei
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36
• Schubert, Franz, (See List of Schubert's works)
  • Piano Sonata in E major, D 157 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in C major, D 279 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in E major, D 459 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in A-flat major, D 557 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in E minor, D 566 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in D-flat major, D 568 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, D 571 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in B major, D 575 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in F minor, D 625 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, D 655 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata No. 13 in A Major, D.664
  • Piano Sonata in E minor, D 769A (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata No. 14 in A Minor, D.784
  • Piano Sonata in C major, D 840 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in A minor, D 845 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata in D major, D 850 (Schubert)
  • Piano Sonata No. 18 in G Major,"Fantaisie," D.894
  • Piano Sonata No. 19 in C Minor, D.958
  • Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D.959
  • Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-flat major, D.960
• Schumann, Clara
  • Piano Sonata in G minor (1841–42)
• Schumann, Robert
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 (Schumann) in F-sharp minor, Op. 11 "Grosse Sonate"
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (Schumann) in G minor, Op. 22
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 (Schumann) in F minor, Op. 14 "Concerto without Orchestra"
• Julius Reubke
  • Piano Sonata (Reubke)
• Sibelius, Jean
  • Piano Sonata in F major, Op. 12
• Weber, Carl Maria von
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 24 (J. 138)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 39 (J. 199)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 49 (J. 206)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 in E minor, Op. 70 (J. 287)
• Ludwig Schuncke
  • Grande Sonata in G minor Op. 3 (1832)
• Richard Strauss
  • Piano Sonata in B minor (Strauss) op.5
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Piano Sonata in G major (Tchaikovsky) op.37
  • Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor (Tchaikovsky) op.80
• Xaver Scharwenka
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in C-sharp minor, Op. 6

Modern (1900-present)

• Alwyn, William
  • Sonata alla Toccata (1945–46)
• Yevgeny Svetlanov
  • Piano Sonata No.3 (1953)
• Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
  • Piano Sonata No. 1, KSS 20
• Alban Berg
  • Piano Sonata (Berg) op.1
• Mily Balakirev
  • Piano Sonata op.102 in B-flat Minor
• Vasyl Barvinsky
  • Piano Sonata in D Flat Major
• Barber, Samuel
  • Sonata for Piano in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26
• Barraqué, Jean
  • Piano Sonata (1950–52)
• Bartók, Béla
  • Piano Sonata, Sz.80
• Bax, Arnold
  • Piano Sonata in F♯ minor No. 1 (1910)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (1919)
  • Piano Sonata in E-flat (Bax)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 (1926)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 in G major (1934)
• Berkeley, Lennox
  • Piano Sonata in A major, Op. 20 (1941–45)
• Boulez, Pierre
  • Piano Sonata No. 1
  • Piano Sonata No. 2
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 (Unfinished: only two of the five movements have been published.)
• Bridge, Frank
  • Piano Sonata, H.160
• Dmitry Kabalevsky
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (Kabalevsky) op.45
  • Piano Sonata No.3 op.46
• Cochran, Julian
  • Piano Sonata No. 1
  • Piano Sonata No. 2
• Copland, Aaron
  • Piano Sonata
• Sergei Protopopov
  • Piano Sonata No.3 Op.6
• Dutilleux, Henri
  • Piano Sonata, Op. 1
• Fairouz, Mohammed
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 "Reflections on Exile"
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 "The Last Resistance"
• Ferguson, Howard
  • Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 8 (1938–40)
• Ginastera, Alberto
  • Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22
• Gould, Glenn
  • Piano Sonata (1948)
• Hindemith, Paul
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in A Major "Der Main"
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Major
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in B flat Major
• Hough, Stephen
  • Sonata for piano (Broken Branches) (2010)
  • 2nd Piano Sonata (Notturno luminoso) (2012)
  • Piano Sonata III (Trinitas) (2014)
  • Piano Sonata no. 4 (Vida Breve) (2016)
• Ireland, John
  • Piano Sonata (1920)
• Ives, Charles
  • Piano Sonata No.2, Concord, Mass., 1840-60
• Janáček, Leoš
  • Piano Sonata "1.X.1905"
• Jennings, David
  • Piano Sonata, Op. 1 (1988, revised 1995 and 2009)
• Leighton, Kenneth
  • Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 2 (1948)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 17 (1953)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 Op. 27 (1954)
  • Piano Sonata, Op. 64 (1971–72)
• Liebermann, Lowell
  • Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 1 (1977)
  • Piano Sonata No.2 ("Sonata Notturna") Op. 10 (1983)
  • Piano Sonata No.3 Op. 82 (2002)
• Lilburn, Douglas
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor Op. 1 (1932)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in F♯ minor (1939)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 in A minor (1939)
  • Piano Sonata No. 5 (1949)
  • Piano Sonata No. 6 (1956)
• Medtner, Nikolai
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 5 (1901–3)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in A♭, Op. 11 (1904–7)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Sonate-Elegie, Op. 11 (1904–7)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 in C, Op. 11 (1904–7)
  • Piano Sonata No. 5 in G minor, Op. 22 (1909–10)
  • Piano Sonata No. 6 in C minor, Sonata-Skazka, Op. 22 (1910–11)
  • Piano Sonata No. 7 in E minor, Night Wind, Op. 22 (1910–11)
  • Piano Sonata No. 8 in F♯, Sonata-Ballade, Op. 27 (1912–14)
  • Piano Sonata No. 9 in A minor, War Sonata , Op. 30 (1914–17)
  • Piano Sonata No. 10 in A minor, Sonata-reminiscenza, Op. 38 No. 1 (1920)
  • Piano Sonata No. 11 in C minor, Sonata Tragica, Op. 39, No. 5 (1920)
  • Piano Sonata No. 12 in B♭ minor, Romantica, Op. 53 No. 1 (1930)
  • Piano Sonata No. 13 in F minor, Minacciosa, Op. 53, No. 2 (1930)
  • Piano Sonata No. 14 in G, Sonata-Idyll, Op. 56 (1937)
• Leopold Godowsky
  • Piano Sonata in E minor
• Ornstein, Leo
  • Piano Sonata No. 4
  • Piano Sonata No. 8
• Pejačević, Dora
  • Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 36 (1914; dedicated to Anny von Lange)
  • Sonata in A flat major, Op. 57 (in one movement; 1921)
• Persichetti, Vincent
  • Sonata No. 12 (Mirror Sonata)
• Price, Florence
  • Piano Sonata in E Minor
• Prokofiev, Sergei
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28 ("From Old Notebooks")
  • Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82 ("War Sonata 1")
  • Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83 ("War Sonata 2/Stalingrad")
  • Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat major, Op. 84 ("War Sonata 3")
• Rzewski, Frederic
  • Sonata for Solo Piano (1991)
• Schnittke, Alfred
  • Piano Sonata No. 1
  • Piano Sonata No. 2
  • Piano Sonata No. 3
• Scriabin, Alexander
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 "Sonata-Fantasy"
  • Piano Sonata No. 4
  • Piano Sonata No. 5
  • Piano Sonata No. 6
  • Piano Sonata No. 7 "White Mass"
  • Piano Sonata No. 9 "Black Mass"
• Shostakovich, Dmitri
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61
• Stoker, Richard
  • Piano Sonata No.1, Op.26 (1970)
  • Piano Sonata No.2, Op.71 (1998)
• Stravinsky, Igor
  • Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor (Stravinsky)
  • Piano Sonata (Stravinsky) 1924
• Szymanowski, Karol
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (Szymanowski) in A Major op. 21
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 op. 36
• Bohuslav Martinů
  • Piano Sonata (Martinů)
• Tippett, Michael
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 (1936–38)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (1962)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 (1972–73)
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 (1983–84)
• Vine, Carl
  • Piano Sonata No. 1
• Williams, John
  • Piano Sonata (1951)
• Wuorinen, Charles
  • Piano Sonata (1969)
  • Second Piano Sonata (1976)
  • Third Piano Sonata (1986)
  • Fourth Piano Sonata (2007)
• Boris Tishchenko
  • Piano Sonata No.2 op.17
• Nikolai Kapustin
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 "Sonata-Fantasy" (1984)
• Nikolai Roslavets
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 (1914) — Published by Muzyka, 1990 (edited by Eduard Babasyan)
• Samuil Feinberg
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 op.3 in G Minor
• Vasily Kalafati
  • Piano Sonata op.4 no.2 in D Minor
• Alexei Stanchinsky
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in G major (1912)
• Viktor Kosenko
  • Piano Sonata in B flat minor op. 13
• Ulvi Cemal Erkin
  • Piano Sonata (1946)
• Earl Wild
  • Piano Sonata (2000)
• Alexander Glazunov
  • Piano Sonata No 1 in B flat minor, Op 74.