Depression of the 1930’s piano sales dropped sharply and many manufacturers went out
of business.
Another blow to the piano was the widespread acceptance in the late twentieth century of
the electronic keyboard. This instrument in its cheaper form, while providing a poor
substitute for the tonal quality of a good piano, was more flexible and well suited to
popular music.
The piano, of course, does survive to this day in many twenty-first century homes.
Pianos being bought today tend to be of better quality and to be more expensive than
those of several decades ago, suggesting that domestic piano playing may have settled
into the homes of the wealthier and better educated members of the middle class. Many
parents realise that when their children study the piano, in addition to developing their
concentration and self discipline skills, a door opens for them into the world of music.
SONATA
Classical sonata
The practice of the classical period would become decisive for the sonata. The term
‘sonata’ moved from being one of many terms indicating genres or forms to designating
the fundamental form of organisation for large-scale works. This evolution stretched
over fifty years. The term came to apply both to the structure of individual movements
and to the layout of the movements in a multi-movement work. In the transition to the
classical period there were several names given to multi-movement works, including
divertimento, serenade and partita.
The use of ‘sonata’ as the standard term for such works began somewhere in the 1770s.
Haydn labelled his first piano sonatas as such in 1771 after which he used the term
‘divertimento’ very sparingly. The term ‘sonata’ was increasingly applied to a work for
keyboard alone (piano sonata) or for keyboard and one instrument, often the violin or
cello. ‘Sonata’ was less frequently applied to works with more than two instrumentalists.
Piano trios, for example, were not often labelled sonata for piano, violin and cello.
The most common layout of movements originally was:
! Allegro - involving not only a tempo but a ‘working out’ or development of the
theme.! Middle movement - a slow movement such as an andante, adagio or largo, or
sometimes a minuet or a theme and variations.! Closing movement - sometimes a minuet, as in Haydn’s first piano sonatas, but
afterwards usually an allegro or a presto, often labelled as a finale, and often in
rondo form.