Sonata da chiesa
'Church sonata': an instrumental work of the
Baroque period, usually in four movements, and scored for one or more melody
instruments and continuo. Corelli's opp.1 and 3 were largely responsible
for establishing the slow-fast-slow-fast order of movements, in which the
second is typically a fugal Allegro and the third (in a related key) and
fourth are binary forms that may resemble the sarabande and giga. (The
third may be no more than a short, modulatory transition.) This type and
the dance-based chamber sonata (sonata da camera)
tended to merge after circa 1700.
(See article Sonata da camera
/ Sonata da chiesa)