From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sonata \So*na"ta\, noun [It., fr. It. & L. sonare to sound. See {Sound} a noise.] (Mus.) An extended composition for one or two instruments, consisting usually of three or four movements; as, Beethoven's sonatas for the piano, for the violin and piano, etc.
Note: The same general structure prevails in symphonies, instrumental trios, quartets, etc., and even in classical concertos. The sonata form, distinctively, characterizes the quick opening movement, which may have a short, slow introduction; the second, or slow, movement is either in the song or variation form; third comes the playful minuet or the more modern scherzo; then the quick finale in the rondo form. But both form and order are sometimes exceptional.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a musical composition of 3 or 4 movements of contrasting forms
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
34 Moby Thesaurus words for "sonata": Nachtmusik, absolute music, adaptation, air varie, aleatory, aleatory music, arrangement, chamber music, chamber orchestra, composition, descant, electronic music, etude, exercise, harmonization, incidental music, instrumental music, invention, nocturne, opus, orchestration, piece, production, program music, ricercar, score, sonatina, string orchestra, string quartet, study, theme and variations, trio, variation, work
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
Sonata The code name for the major {Mac OS} release due in mid-1999. {(http://devworld.apple.com/mkt/informed/appledirections/mar97/roadmap.html)}. (1997-10-15)
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