How to Use sonata in a Sentence
sonata
noun-
To encounter one of the late sonatas on a recital program is a treat.
—Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Mar. 2023
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So there can be four, five, even six players in a trio sonata.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2019
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Her recital, sold out, was all Schubert – three sonatas.
—Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 25 Feb. 2018
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Its four short movements assume the overall shape of a sonata.
—Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2023
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This sonata is on a grand scale — playing all the repeats takes 45 minutes.
—Christian Hertzog, sandiegouniontribune.com, 25 Mar. 2018
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In Shostakovich’s earthier sonata, the somberness competes with the grotesque.
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2021
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Even five years earlier, in one of his finest piano sonatas, Op.
—Tim Page, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2019
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The New York native is the first American pianist to record all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.
—Matthew J. Palm, OrlandoSentinel.com, 22 Apr. 2018
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What makes this one different is that the Haydn sonatas chosen tend to veer away from the old favorites (such as the inevitable No.
—Olin Chism, star-telegram, 26 May 2017
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The duo will perform violin sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy and Franck.
—Patrick Neas, Kansas City Star, 23 Feb. 2024
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There was one major plus: Grewe’s joyful performance of a Haydn sonata (No. 33 this time).
—Olin Chism, star-telegram.com, 26 May 2017
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At the moment, researchers are a long way from playing a convincing sonata.
—Adam Rogers, Wired, 24 Nov. 2021
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Asakura prepared to play the sonata a second time, this time without the rack that holds the sheet music, opening up the piano’s sound even more.
—Washington Post, 19 May 2021
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In the 11th sonata, which meditates on the resurrection of Jesus, the central strings are even crossed.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 25 May 2023
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Pianist Jonathan Biss will conclude his three-year cycle of the Beethoven piano sonatas with two solo recitals.
—John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 14 Mar. 2018
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Let her miserable sonata fade into the background of your life, rather than buying front-row seats three or four nights a week.
—Mallory Ortberg, Slate Magazine, 27 Mar. 2017
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Debussy’s sonata, his last major work, supports that idea.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Nov. 2022
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At the heart of the sonata, an intensely lyrical slow movement recalls Poulenc’s choral music.
—Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 21 Apr. 2021
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This movie is slight by comparison—a sonata instead of a string quartet.
—Brandon Wilson, Chron, 1 Dec. 2022
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Lenin has no use for art, though his wife describes him as being unnervingly moved by a Beethoven sonata.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2018
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Kavakos and Wang captured the sonata’s eeriness and its intensity.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2021
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The researchers also saw a similar effect when the sonata was played at 75% of its original speed.
—Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
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The overall flow is very much like preparing a symphony or a piano sonata.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2022
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Full of tragic power, the sonata is arguably Beethoven’s darkest and most aggressive work.
—Paavali Jumppanen, WSJ, 6 Oct. 2017
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The system also could extend the length of decay of sound, which was evident when Ewer played a movement from a Bach sonata.
—oregonlive, 27 Sep. 2021
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Simply put your finger down and twirl the circle to pick any one of the moods that arise: Passionate (a Schumann sonata for violin and piano)!
—Corey Seymour, Vogue, 15 May 2019
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Debussy wasn’t the first to combine those instruments, but his sonata was the first memorable work for that ensemble.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Jan. 2022
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One of them focusses on Sibelius; another goes into detail about what makes a piece of music a sonata.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2022
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Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas are a library of masterworks spanning a lifetime of styles and artistic growth.
—Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2019
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Why did Serkin, a lifelong Mozartean, not record a single Mozart piano sonata during his four decades with Columbia?
—David Mermelstein, WSJ, 17 Oct. 2017
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sonata.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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