Sonata da chiesa

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Sonata da chiesa , also known under the German name of church sonata , is a genre of instrumental music from the Baroque period . It forms the counterpart to the Sonata da camera , the chamber sonata . Church sonatas were performed between individual movements of the mass , but in contrast to, for example, funeral masses , they have no liturgical function.

shape

Characteristic of the Sonata da chiesa is its four movements, mostly in the sequence slow – fast – slow – fast, as well as fast – slow – fast – fast. There are also three- or five-movement versions, the former, for example, in Bach's trio sonatas for organ . The slow opening movement, often headed Grave or Adagio , often uses dotted rhythms . The following quick sentence is fugitive . The second slow movement is usually in three time , often has the character of a sarabande and is sometimes in the parallel key . The final movement is again mostly fugal, in the dance rhythm of a gigue , a minuet or a gavotte . As early as the end of the 17th century, the types of church and chamber sonatas were converging.

Important representatives

The first important representative of both the church and chamber sonatas is Arcangelo Corelli . His first printed opus , the 12 Church Sonatas op. 1 (1681), was a Europe-wide success. As a result, both genres spread across Austria, Germany, England and France. Examples can be found in Schmelzer , Biber , Georg Muffat , Fux , Henry Purcell , Francesco Geminiani , Handel , Telemann , François Couperin and Jean-Marie Leclair . Even Johann Sebastian Bach's three solo sonatas for violin and the first five of his six sonatas for violin and harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019 follow the principle of church sonata in the full sequence slow fugue-slow-fast. This also applies to some of Joseph Haydn's early symphonies - No. 5 , No. 11 , No. 18 , No. 21 , No. 22 , No. 34 and No. 49 .

Between 1772 and 1780, Mozart wrote 17 church sonatas on behalf of Archbishop Colloredo , but these did not follow the form introduced by Corelli. They consist of only one movement, are written for different ensembles - partly for organ and strings, partly also with wind instruments - and were performed in the mass between the epistle and the gospel .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sonata . In: Wilibald Gurlitt , Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht (Ed.): Riemann Musiklexikon . 12th, completely revised edition. Tangible part: A-Z . Schott, Mainz 1967, p. 881 .