Piano Sonata No. 28 (Beethoven) in the context of Serious music

Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerations or a written musical tradition. In this context, the terms "serious" or "cultivated" are frequently used to present a contrast with ordinary, everyday music (i.e. popular and folk music, also called "vernacular music"). Many cultures have art music traditions; in the Western world, the term typically refers to Western classical music.

In music, a sonata (/səˈnɑːtə/; pl. sonate) is a piece that consists of 3 or 4 movements that can be for different musical instruments. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until the Classical era, when it took on increasing importance. Sonata is a vague term, with varying meanings depending on the context and time period. By the early 19th century it came to represent a principle of composing large-scale works. It was applied to most instrumental genres and regarded—alongside the fugue—as one of two fundamental methods of organizing, interpreting and analyzing concert music. Though the musical style of sonatas has changed since the Classical era, most 20th- and 21st-century sonatas maintain the overarching structure.

The term sonatina, pl. sonatine, the diminutive form of sonata, is often used for a short or technically easy sonata.

The late piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven usually refer to the last five piano sonatas the composer composed during his late period.

• Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
• Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier"
• Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
• Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
• Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111

Some compilations may include Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 as one of Beethoven's late piano sonatas.

A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Berg), others with two movements (Haydn, Beethoven), some contain five (Brahms' Third Piano Sonata, Czerny's Piano Sonata No. 1, Godowsky's Piano Sonata) or even more movements. The first movement is generally composed in sonata form.