The Sonatine was written on commission for flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, who curiously never played it because of his extreme dislike for the work. The piece itself is rather short, but full of energy, with huge melodic leaps, sharp rhythmic and tempo contrasts, and an aggressive quality which never lets up until the conclusion of the piece. Boulez himself has stated the work (along with its counterpart, the First Piano Sonata) draws a fair amount from Schoenberg, specifically his Chamber Symphony.

From this work of his predecessor, Boulez took, more than anything else, the idea of "the metamorphosis of a single theme". While it's true that Boulez may have gotten the core of this idea from Schoenberg, it has a life of its own in Boulez' hands. The Schoenberg work is written in a post-Romantic style, while the Sonatine is most definitely serialism at its finest. Boulez' writing is twelve-tone in its basic pitch material, and virtuosic in its use of the timbres, unique combinations of textures, shifts in dynamic accents, etc.

The twelve-tone materials used in this work are easily seen by a quick look at the flute opening. It is rare that a complete statement of the entire twelve tones be completed in one of Boulez' works; however, we get a rare glimpse of this unique entity here. Upon closer examination, it also appears that the choice of intervals used is limited to major thirds, sevenths, tritones and perfect fifths. Also, he has limited some of his divisions of the twelve tones into groups of five, five, and two, with the use of the motif tritone to fifth.

The piece gets its life from the constant push and pull of the tempo. Throughout most of the work, there is no true connective tissue between the flute and piano parts past the pitch choices, which perhaps leaves the variations on tempo, texture, and timbre as the unifying structure to the entire work. The first five-note theme which appears in the flute part does show up in various stages throughout the piece; keeping the piece united, these act as a landmark throughout the piece.

While much of the music of Boulez depends upon serial and twelve tone techniques, there is no doubt that his use of these techniques is unique. The Sonatine for flute and piano serves as a perfect example of some of the stylistic variations Boulez took from his contemporaries, and why, years later, this work and those like it are still examined for their innovative qualities.

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