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or one or two instruments, consisting usually of three or four movements; as, Beethoven's sonatas for the piano, for the violin and piano, etc.

To perform upon an instrument; to prepare for an instrument; as, a sonata instrumented for orchestra.

representation; as, an actor interprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a landscape.

A tune or air to regulate the movements of the dance so called; a movement in suites, sonatas, symphonies, etc., having the dance form, and commonly in 3-4, sometimes 3-8, measure.

ent, commonly in 3-4 measure, which often takes the place of the old minuet and trio in a sonata or a symphony.

A short and simple sonata.

One of the old musical forms, before the time of the more compact sonata, consisting of a string or series of pieces all in the same key, mostly in various dance rhythms, with sometimes an elaborate prelude. Some composers of the present day affect the suite form.

An elaborate instrumental composition for a full orchestra, consisting usually, like the sonata, of three or four contrasted yet inwardly related movements, as the allegro, the adagio, the minuet and trio, or scherzo, and the finale in quick time. The term has recently been applied to large orchestral works in freer fo…

The secondary, or episodical, movement of a minuet or scherzo, as in a sonata or symphony, or of a march, or of various dance forms; -- not limited to three parts or instruments.