The Piano Sonata in the Musical Life of the Early 19th Century

"The development of the sonata's function is also examined. The sonata in the classical era was a domestic genre. Its original purpose was either pedagogical or for amateur entertainment. Numerous ""galant"" sonatas were composed for young females of the wealthy, genteel families to demonstrate their ""accomplishment,"" to show their respectability. However, with the emergence of the modern piano, the sonata moved out of the domestic sphere. The expanded capability of the newly modified instrument helped many pianists to further develop piano technique, and soon they incorporated numerous difficult keyboard patterns into their sonata writings. With its increasing length and technical difficulty, the sonata gradually became a concert piece in the early 19th century. It had split into two sub-genres: one for domestic entertainment, the other for concert performance. However, sonatas such as the last five of Beethoven and most of Schubert's do not fall into either category. They were composed to express the innermost thought of the composers and made few concessions to the contemporary audience. Although initially neglected, their profundity finally gained them the recognition they deserved in the 20th century, while their contemporaries in the ""domestic"" and ""concert"" varieties are largely forgotten."

Name thesis:degree_name

D.M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Lo, Wei-Chun Bernadette

Contributors dc:contributor

• Temperley, Nicholas

• Music

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3153367

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/85741