How to Use sonata in a Sentence

sonata

noun
  • So there can be four, five, even six players in a trio sonata.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2019
  • To encounter one of the late sonatas on a recital program is a treat.
    — Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Its four short movements assume the overall shape of a sonata.
    — Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Even five years earlier, in one of his finest piano sonatas, Op.
    — Tim Page, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2019
  • This sonata is on a grand scale — playing all the repeats takes 45 minutes.
    — Christian Hertzog, sandiegouniontribune.com, 25 Mar. 2018
  • In the Franck sonata, Malofeev staked out rich, dense chords for Dueñas to twirl through.
    — Justin Davidson, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2024
  • This movie is slight by comparison—a sonata instead of a string quartet.
    — Brandon Wilson, Chron, 1 Dec. 2022
  • At the moment, researchers are a long way from playing a convincing sonata.
    — Adam Rogers, Wired, 24 Nov. 2021
  • The overall flow is very much like preparing a symphony or a piano sonata.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2022
  • 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
  • In Shostakovich’s earthier sonata, the somberness competes with the grotesque.
    — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2021
  • 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
  • Kavakos and Wang captured the sonata’s eeriness and its intensity.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2021
  • At the heart of the sonata, an intensely lyrical slow movement recalls Poulenc’s choral music.
    — Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 21 Apr. 2021
  • Full of tragic power, the sonata is arguably Beethoven’s darkest and most aggressive work.
    — Paavali Jumppanen, WSJ, 6 Oct. 2017
  • The duo will perform violin sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy and Franck.
    — Patrick Neas, Kansas City Star, 23 Feb. 2024
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • The researchers also saw a similar effect when the sonata was played at 75% of its original speed.
    — Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
  • 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.com, 26 May 2017
  • Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas are a library of masterworks spanning a lifetime of styles and artistic growth.
    — Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2019
  • 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
  • The third sonata is the first time historically where there is a truly equal partnership between the cello and the piano.
    — Beth Wood, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 May 2022
  • But while each cell carries the same genes, every cell only uses some of these instructions, like a sonata that only uses some of the keys on the piano.
    — Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2019
  • 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
  • In the 11th sonata, which meditates on the resurrection of Jesus, the central strings are even crossed.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 25 May 2023
  • 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
  • Beethoven has composed many piano sonatas in his life, which have inspired countless concert pianists, teachers, students and listeners.
    — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 24 Nov. 2025
  • Double-stops proved a stumbling block for Woods, in the sonata’s first movement and throughout the recital, often turning sour in intonation.
    — Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2019

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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