Sonata da chiesa (Italian: "church sonata") is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and is regarded an antecedent of later forms of 18th century instrumental music.
It generally comprises four movements, typically a
largo prelude followed by a
fugal
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
allegro
Allegro may refer to:
Common meanings
* Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright
* Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement
Artistic works
* L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton
* ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...
, an expressive slow movement, and an allegro
finale, although there are also many variations of this pattern.
During the 17th century, church services were increasingly accompanied by music for ensembles rather than solo organ, with
canzona
The canzona is an Italian musical form derived from the Franco-Flemish and Parisian chansons, and during Giovanni Gabrieli's lifetime was frequently spelled canzona, though both earlier and later the singular was spelled either canzon or canzone ...
s and
sonatas regularly substituted for the
Proper
Proper may refer to:
Mathematics
* Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact
* Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...
during
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
and
Vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...
. Many of these works, however, were not written explicitly as
liturgical music
Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong ...
and were often performed as concert pieces for entertainment. The term ''sonata da chiesa'' was originally used in its literal meaning of “church music” but later came to be used figuratively to contrast this genre of composition with the ''
sonata da camera
Sonata da camera is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and basso continuo. It generally comprises a suite of several small pieces in the same mode or key that are suitable for dancing. A significant numb ...
'', which literally meant “chamber music” but generally comprised a suite of dances.
The exemplary works in this form are by
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of th ...
whose Op. 1 (1681) and Op. 3 (1689) each consist of 12
trio sonatas
The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. Originating in the early 17th century, the trio sonata was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era.
Basic s ...
with alternating slow-fast-slow-fast movements (the first 8 of the
Concerti grossi, op.6 follow this pattern as well). This four movement scheme is followed in J. S. Bach's
three sonatas for unaccompanied violin, in the first five of his
six sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord and in the first two of his
three sonatas for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord.
[Violin Sonatas (CD 19–20): "Liner notes" by Clemens Romijn p. 13, and "Full tracklist" pp. 155–56 i]
''J. S. Bach Complete Edition: Liner notes, sung texts, full tracklist''.
Brilliant Classics
Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also ...
, August 2014 (re-release).
After 1700, composers tended to merge the ''sonata da chiesa'' with the ''sonata da camera''. By the mid-18th century, however, this style of music was increasingly out of date, although
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
, for example, did compose a few early symphonies that followed the largo–allegro–minuet–allegro pattern.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
also composed
17 works that are called "church sonatas", but these consisted of but a single movement for organ and strings to be played between the
Epistle and the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
of the Mass.
[Zaslaw, Neal, with Cowdery, William eds., ''The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'', p. 109-112, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1990, ]
Notes
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonata Da Chiesa
Chiesa
Chiesa (Italian, 'church') may refer to:
People with the surname
*Andrea Chiesa (born 1966), Swiss Formula One racer
*Anthony della Chiesa (1394–1459), Italian Dominican friar
*Bruno della Chiesa (born 1962), European linguist
* Carlo Alberto Da ...
Baroque music