A study to determine the classical characteristics in the flute sonatas of Hindemith, Prokofiev, and Poulenc

From the late-sixteenth century to the present, the word "sonata" has had many connotations but the term is now most often associated with the musical characteristics of the classical sonata. What is the relationship of three twentieth-century flute sonatas to the classical sonata? In this study the elements of form, harmony, thematic material, phrasing, and dynamics in the classical sonata were summarized. The flute sonatas of Hindemith, Prokofiev, and Poulenc were examined for those same characteristics and then compared to those of the classical sonata. In these three flute sonatas the characteristics of the classical sonata were either imitated or transformed, always invoking the spirit of the classical sonata.