Scan 229
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1910
2 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. Printed page 197. See the scan on archive.org.
1disjointed collection of unrelated sections, which is not entirely correct, and in order to do away with the danger of this misunderstanding, later composers have indicated that the sonata be played without interruption. The sonata, as we have noted, was evolved for a solo instrument, but may be written for two or more instruments. If the accompaniment be written for the orchestra this composition becomes a concerto; the trios, quartets and other pieces of chamber music of the classical period are in this form and the music for string quartets is by many authorities considered the most intellectual form of musical composition. In them so much is demanded of each instrument and the composer is so limited in material that every detail must be perfectly adjusted, and it is extremely difficult to balance the parts for the instruments to bring each equally into prominence without any one subordinating the others. The earliest developments of the sonata form were known as either the "sonata de chiesa" (church sonata), or the "sonata da camera" (chamber sonata). In the church sonata there were three or four movements quick and slow, one or more in fugato or other contrapuntal style, which were somewhat serious in character and derived from the old choral music; while the chamber sonata was secular in style and simply a grouping of dance movements which, as we have seen, constituted a suite. While the violin was brought into prominence at this stage, music was also being written for other bowed, and for wind instruments, such as the concerto da camera, which was really the precursor of the string quartet and the symphony. In it other instruments appeared in connection with the violin in accompanying or contrasting parts, not merely as a bass accompaniment to the solo sonata but by playing now in unison, now in rivalry with a group of instruments. From these three forms the modern sonata was evolved. Except for the polyphonic music, described in the previous chapters, all music of importance had depended upon words for understanding, but now works were produced in this new form which were complete, well balanced, perfectly adapted to in-
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