Sonata form
Encyclopedia
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure
used widely since the middle of the 18th century (the early Classical period). While it is typically used in the first movement
of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement. The teaching of sonata form in music theory rests on a standard definition and a series of hypotheses about the underlying reasons for the durability and variety of the form—a definition that arose in the second quarter of the 19th century. There is little disagreement that on the largest level, the form consists of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation; however, beneath this, sonata form is difficult to pin down in terms of a single model.
The standard definition focuses on the thematic and harmonic organization of tonal
materials that are presented in an exposition
, elaborated and contrasted in a development and then resolved harmonically and thematically in a recapitulation
. In addition, the standard definition recognizes that an introduction and a coda may be present. Each of the sections is often further divided or characterized by the particular means by which it accomplishes its function in the form.
Since its establishment, the sonata form became the most common form in the first movement of works entitled "sonata
", as well as other long works of classical music, including the symphony
, concerto
, string quartet
, and so on. In accordance, there is a large body of theory on what unifies and distinguishes practice in the sonata form, both within eras and between eras. Even works that do not adhere to the standard description of a sonata form often present analogous structures or can be analyzed
as elaborations or expansions of the standard description of sonata form.
, sonata form is "the most important principle of musical form, or formal type, from the Classical period
well into the 20th century
". As a formal model it is usually best exemplified in the first movements of multi-movement works from this period, whether orchestra
l or chamber
, and has, thus, been referred to frequently as "first-movement form" or "sonata-allegro form" (since the typical first movement in a three- or four-movement cycle will be in allegro tempo). However, as what Grove, following Charles Rosen
, calls a "principle" — a typical approach to shaping a large piece of instrumental
music — it can be seen to be active in a much greater variety of pieces and genres
, from minuet
to concerto
to sonata-rondo
. It also carries with it expressive and stylistic connotations: "sonata style", for Donald Tovey
as for other theorists of his time, was characterized by drama, dynamism, and a "psychological" approach to theme and expression.
Although the Italian term sonata
often refers to a piece in sonata form, it is essential to separate the two. As the title for a single-movement piece of instrumental music—the past participle of suonare, "to sound," as opposed to cantata
, the past participle of cantare, "to sing"—"sonata" covers many pieces from the Baroque
and mid-18th century that are not "in sonata form". Conversely, in the late 18th century or "Classical" period
, the title "sonata" is typically given to a work composed of three or four movements. Nonetheless, this multi-movement sequence is not what is meant by sonata form, which refers to the structure of an individual movement.
The definition of sonata form in terms of musical elements sits uneasily between two historical eras. Although the late 18th century witnessed the most exemplary achievements in the form, above all from Joseph Haydn
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, compositional theory of the time did not use the term "sonata form". Perhaps the most extensive contemporary description of the sonata-form type of movement may have been given by the theorist H. C. Koch in 1793: like earlier German
theorists and unlike many of the descriptions of the form we are used to today, he defined it in terms of the movement's plan of modulation
and principal cadences
, without saying a great deal about the treatment of themes
. Seen in this way, sonata form was closest to binary form
, out of which it probably developed. The model of the form that is often taught currently tends to be more thematically differentiated. It was originally promulgated by Anton Reicha
in Traité de haute composition musicale in 1826, by Adolph Bernhard Marx in Die Lehre von der musikalischen Komposition in 1845, and by Carl Czerny in 1848. Marx may be the originator of the term "sonata form".
This model was derived from study and criticism of Beethoven
's piano
sonatas.
It may begin with an introduction, which is, in general, slower than the main movement. In terms of structure, introductions are an upbeat before the main musical argument.
The first required section is the exposition. The exposition presents the primary thematic material for the movement: one or two themes
or theme groups, often in contrasting styles and in opposing keys
, connected by a modulating
transition
. The exposition typically concludes with a closing theme, a codetta, or both.
The exposition is followed by the development where the harmonic
and textural
possibilities of the thematic material are explored.
The development then re-transitions back to the recapitulation where the thematic material returns in the tonic
key, and for the recapitulation to complete the musical argument, material that has not been stated in the tonic key is "resolved" by being played, in whole or in part, in the tonic.
The movement may conclude with a coda, beyond the final cadence of the recapitulation.
The term 'sonata form' is controversial and has been called misleading by scholars and composers almost from its inception. Its originators implied that there was a set template to which Classical and Romantic
composers aspired, or should aspire to.
However, sonata form is presently viewed as a model for musical analysis, rather than compositional practice. Although the descriptions on this page could be considered an adequate analysis of many first-movement structures, there are enough variations that theorists such as Charles Rosen have felt them to warrant the plural in 'Sonata forms.'
These variations include, but are not limited to:
Through the Romantic period, formal distortions and variations become so widespread (Mahler
, Elgar
and Sibelius
among others are cited and studied by James Hepokoski
) that 'sonata form' as it is outlined here is not adequate to describe the complex musical structures that it is often applied to.
In the context of the many late-Baroque
extended binary forms that bear similarities to sonata form, sonata form can be distinguished by the following three characteristics:
. It may or may not contain material that is later stated in the exposition. The introduction increases the weight of the movement, and also permits the composer to begin the exposition with a theme that would be too light to start on its own, as in Haydn's Symphony No. 103 ("The Drumroll")
and Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds Op. 16
. The introduction usually is not included in the exposition repeat.
On occasion, the material of introduction reappears in its original tempo later in the movement. Often, this occurs as late as the coda, as in Mozart's String Quintet in D major K. 593, Haydn's Drumroll Symphony, or Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 ("Pathétique"
).
The development varies greatly in length from piece to piece and from time period to time period, sometimes being relatively short compared to the exposition (e.g., the first movement of Eine kleine Nachtmusik
, K 525/I by Mozart) and in other cases quite long and detailed (e.g., the first movement of the "Eroica" Symphony
by Beethoven). Developments in the classical era are typically shorter due to how much composers of that era valued symmetry, unlike the more expressive romantic era ("Eroica" is considered to be the first Romantic symphony) in which development sections gain a much greater importance. However, it almost always shows a greater degree of tonal, harmonic, and rhythm
ic instability than the other sections. At the end, the music will usually return to the tonic key in preparation of the recapitulation. (On occasion it will actually return to the sub-dominant key and then proceed with the same transition as in the exposition). The transition from the development to the recapitulation is a crucial moment in the work.
The last part of the development section is called the retransition: It prepares for the return of the first subject group in the tonic, most often through a grand prolongation
of the dominant seventh. Thus, if the key of the movement is C major, the retransition would most typically stress the dominant seventh chord on G. In addition, the character of the music would signal such a return, often becoming more frenetic (as in the case of the first movement of Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata, Op. 53
). A rather notable exception to the harmonic norm of the retransition occurs in the first movement of Brahms
's Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 1. The general key of the movement is C major, and it would then follow that the retransition should stress the dominant seventh chord on G. Instead, it builds in strength over the seventh chord on C, as if the music were proceeding to F major. At the height of the musical tension, this chord triumphs with great volume and wide registral scope on the downbeat, only to take up immediately the first theme in C major – that is, without any standard harmonic preparation. Occasionally, the retransition can begin with a false recapitulation, in which the opening material of the first theme group is presented in a key other than the tonic. The surprise that ensues when the music continues to modulate toward the tonic can be used for either comic or dramatic effect.
Exceptions to the recapitulation form include Mozart and Haydn works that often begin with the second subject group when the first subject group has been elaborated at length in the development.
After the closing cadence the musical argument proper is said to be completed, and, if the movement continues, it is said to have a coda.
Explanations for why an extended coda is present vary. One reason may be to omit the repeat of the development and recapitulation sections found in earlier sonata forms of the eighteenth century. Indeed, Beethoven's extended codas often serve the purpose of further development of thematic material.
or the String Quintet K. 593
. Such expositions are often called monothematic, meaning that one theme serves to establish the opposition between tonic and dominant keys. This term is misleading, since most "monothematic" works have multiple themes: most works so labeled have additional themes in the second subject group. Rarely, as in the fourth movement of Haydn's String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 50, No. 1, did composers perform the tour de force of writing a complete sonata exposition with just one theme. A more recent example is Edmund Rubbra
's 2nd Symphony.
The fact that so-called monothematic expositions usually have additional themes is used by Charles Rosen to illustrate his theory that the Classical sonata form's crucial element is some sort of dramatization of the arrival of the dominant. Using a new theme was a very common way to achieve this, but other resources such as changes in texture, salient cadences and so on were also accepted practice.
major (or relative minor). About halfway through his career, Beethoven began to experiment with other tonal relationships between the tonic and the second subject group. The most common practice, for both Beethoven and other composers, the mediant
or submediant
, rather than the dominant, is used for the second group. For instance, the first movement of the "Waldstein" sonata
, in C major
, modulates to the mediant E major
, while the opening movement of the "Hammerklavier" sonata
, in B-flat major, modulates to the submediant G major
.
The exposition need not only have two key areas. Some composers, most notably Schubert
, composed sonata forms with three or more key areas. The first movement of Schubert's Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden")
, for example, has three separate key and thematic areas, in D minor, F major, and A minor.
, visits C minor, D-flat major, and D major, before finally moving to the dominant major (G major), and many works by Schubert and later composers utilized even further harmonic convolutions. In the first subject group of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat, D. 960, for example, the theme is presented three times, in B-flat major, in G-flat major, and then again in B-flat major. The second subject group is even more wide-ranging. It begins in F-sharp minor, moves into A major, then through B-flat major to F major.
. Here, the sonata-allegro's customary 'repeated exposition' is replaced by two different but related sections: the 'tutti exposition' and the 'solo exposition'. Prototypically the 'tutti exposition' does not feature the soloist (except, in early classical works, in a 'continuo' role), and does not contain the decisive sonata-exposition modulation to the secondary key. Only when the 'solo exposition' is under way does the solo instrument assert itself and participate in the move to (classically) the dominant or relative major. The situation is only seemingly different in the case of such late classical works as Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, where the soloist is heard at the outset: as the later unfolding of those movements makes clear, the opening piano solo or early piano flourishes actually precede the start of the exposition proper.
A structural feature that the special textural situation of the concerto makes possible is the 'ownership' of certain themes or materials by the solo instrument; such materials will thus not be exposed until the 'solo' exposition. Mozart was fond of deploying his themes in this way.
Towards the end of the recapitulation of a concerto movement in sonata form, there is usually a cadenza
for the soloist alone. This has an improvisatory character (it may or may not actually be improvised), and, in general, serves to prolong the harmonic tension on a dominant-quality chord before the orchestra ends the piece in the tonic.
, a piece for singing. At this time, the term implies a binary form, usually AABB with some aspects of three part forms.
The Classical era established the norms of structuring first movements and the standard layouts of multi-movement works. There was a period of a wide variety of layouts and formal structures within first movements that gradually became expected norms of composition. The practice of Haydn and Mozart, as well as other notable composers, became increasingly influential on a generation that sought to exploit the possibilities offered by the forms that Haydn and Mozart had established in their works. In time, theory on the layout of the first movement became more and more focused on understanding the practice of Haydn, Mozart, and, later, Beethoven. Their works were studied, patterns and exceptions to those patterns identified, and the boundaries of acceptable or usual practice set by the understanding of their works. The sonata form as it is described is strongly identified with the norms of the Classical period in music. Even before it had been described the form had become central to music making, absorbing or altering other formal schemas for works.
The Romantic era
in music was to accept the centrality of this practice, codify the form explicitly and make instrumental music in this form central to concert and chamber composition and practice, in particular for works that were meant to be regarded as "serious" works of music. Various controversies in the 19th century would center on exactly what the implications of "development" and sonata practice actually meant, and what the role of the Classical masters was in music. It is ironic that, at the same time that the form was being codified (by the likes of Czerny
and so forth), composers of the day were writing works that flagrantly violated some of the principles of the codified form.
It has continued to be influential through the subsequent history of classical music through to the modern period. The 20th century brought a wealth of scholarship that sought to found the theory of the sonata form on basic tonal laws. The 20th century would see a continued expansion of acceptable practice, leading to the formulation of ideas by which there existed a "sonata principle" or "sonata idea" that unified works of the type, even if they did not explicitly mean the demands of the normative description.
and ternary form
. In terms of key relationships, it is very like binary form, with a first half moving from the home key to the dominant and the second half moving back again (this is why sonata form is sometimes known as compound binary form); in other ways it is very like ternary form, being divided into three sections, the first (exposition) of a particular character, the second (development) in contrast to it, the third section (recapitulation) the same as the first.
The early binary sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti
provide excellent examples of the transition from binary to sonata-allegro form. Among the many sonatas are numerous examples of the true sonata form being crafted into place. During the 18th century, many other composers like Scarlatti were discovering this same musical form by experimenting at their keyboards with harmony and melody.
In the 20th century, emphasis moved from the study of themes and keys to how harmony changed through the course of a work and the importance of cadences and transitions in establishing a sense of "closeness" and "distance in a sonata". The work of Heinrich Schenker
and his ideas about "foreground," "middleground," and "background" became enormously influential in the teaching of composition and interpretation. Schenker believed that inevitability was the key hallmark of a successful composer, and that, therefore, works in sonata form should demonstrate an inevitable logic.
In the simplest example, playing of a cadence
should be in relationship to the importance of that cadence in the overall form of the work. More important cadences are emphasized by pauses, dynamics, sustaining and so on. False or deceptive cadences are given some of the characteristics of a real cadence, and then this impression is undercut by going forward more quickly. For this reason, changes in performance practice bring changes to the understanding of the relative importance of various aspects of the sonata form. In the Classical era, the importance of sections and cadences and underlying harmonic progressions gives way to an emphasis on themes. The clarity of strongly differentiated major and minor sections gives way to a more equivocal sense of key and mode. These changes produce changes in performance practice: when sections are clear, then there is less need to emphasize the points of articulation. When they are less clear, greater importance is placed on varying the tempo during the course of the music to give "shape" to the music.
Over the last half-century, a critical tradition of examining scores, autographs, annotations, and the historical record has changed, sometimes subtly, on occasion dramatically, the way the sonata form is viewed. It has led to changes in how works are edited; for example, the phrasing of Beethoven's piano works has undergone a shift to longer and longer phrases that are not always in step with the cadences and other formal markers of the sections of the underlying form. Comparing the recordings of Schnabel
, from the beginning of modern recording, with those of Barenboim
and then Pratt
shows a distinct shift in how the structure of the sonata form is presented to the listener over time.
For composers, the sonata form is like the plot of a play or movie script, describing when the crucial plot points are, and the kinds of material that should be used to connect them into a coherent and orderly whole. At different times the sonata form has been taken to be quite rigid, and at other times a freer interpretation has been considered permissible.
In the theory of sonata form it is often asserted that other movements stand in relation to the sonata-allegro form, either, per Charles Rosen that they are really "sonata forms", plural – or as Edward T. Cone
asserts, that the sonata-allegro is the ideal to which other movement structures "aspire". This is particularly seen to be the case with other movement forms that commonly occur in works thought of as sonatas. As a sign of this the word "sonata" is sometimes prepended to the name of the form, in particular in the case of the "sonata-rondo" form. Slow movements, in particular, are seen as being similar to sonata-allegro form, with differences in phrasing and less emphasis on the development.
However, Schoenberg
and other theorists who used his ideas as a point of departure see the theme and variations
as having an underlying role in the construction of formal music, calling the process continuing variation, and argue from this idea that the sonata-allegro form is a means of structuring the continuing variation process. Theorists of this school include Erwin Ratz
and William E. Caplin.
Subsections of works are sometimes analyzed as being in sonata form, in particular single movement works, such as the Konzertstück in F minor
of Carl Maria von Weber
.
From the 1950s onward, Hans Keller
developed a 'two-dimensional' method of analysis that explicitly considered form and structure from the point of view of listener expectations. In his work, the sonata-allegro was a well-implied 'background form' against whose various detailed features composers could compose their individual 'foregrounds'; the 'meaningful contradiction' of expected background by unexpected foreground was seen as generating the expressive content. In Keller's writings, this model is applied in detail to Schoenberg's 12-note works as well as the classical tonal repertoire. In recent times, two other musicologists, James Hepokoski
and Warren Darcy, have presented, without reference to Keller, their analysis, which they term Sonata Theory
, of the sonata-allegro form and the sonata cycle in terms of genre expectations, and categorized both the sonata-allegro movement and the sonata cycle by the compositional choices made to respect or depart from conventions. Their study focuses on the normative period of sonata practice, notable ones being the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and their close contemporaries, projecting this practice forward to development of the sonata-allegro form into the 19th and 20th centuries.
, who praised the form for its intelligibility.
Musical form
The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...
used widely since the middle of the 18th century (the early Classical period). While it is typically used in the first movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement. The teaching of sonata form in music theory rests on a standard definition and a series of hypotheses about the underlying reasons for the durability and variety of the form—a definition that arose in the second quarter of the 19th century. There is little disagreement that on the largest level, the form consists of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation; however, beneath this, sonata form is difficult to pin down in terms of a single model.
The standard definition focuses on the thematic and harmonic organization of tonal
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
materials that are presented in an exposition
Exposition (music)
In musical form and analysis, exposition is the initial presentation of the thematic material of a musical composition, movement, or section. The use of the term generally implies that the material will be developed or varied....
, elaborated and contrasted in a development and then resolved harmonically and thematically in a recapitulation
Recapitulation (music)
In music theory, the recapitulation is one of the sections of a movement written in sonata form. The recapitulation occurs after the movement's development section, and typically presents once more the musical themes from the movement's exposition...
. In addition, the standard definition recognizes that an introduction and a coda may be present. Each of the sections is often further divided or characterized by the particular means by which it accomplishes its function in the form.
Since its establishment, the sonata form became the most common form in the first movement of works entitled "sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
", as well as other long works of classical music, including the symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
, string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, and so on. In accordance, there is a large body of theory on what unifies and distinguishes practice in the sonata form, both within eras and between eras. Even works that do not adhere to the standard description of a sonata form often present analogous structures or can be analyzed
Musical analysis
Musical analysis is the attempt to answer the question how does this music work?. The method employed to answer this question, and indeed exactly what is meant by the question, differs from analyst to analyst, and according to the purpose of the analysis. According to Ian Bent , analysis is "an...
as elaborations or expansions of the standard description of sonata form.
Defining 'sonata form'
According to the Grove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansGrove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
, sonata form is "the most important principle of musical form, or formal type, from the Classical period
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
well into the 20th century
20th century classical music
20th century classical music was without a dominant style and highly diverse.-Introduction:At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style. Composers such as Gustav Mahler and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing...
". As a formal model it is usually best exemplified in the first movements of multi-movement works from this period, whether orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l or chamber
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, and has, thus, been referred to frequently as "first-movement form" or "sonata-allegro form" (since the typical first movement in a three- or four-movement cycle will be in allegro tempo). However, as what Grove, following Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
, calls a "principle" — a typical approach to shaping a large piece of instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
music — it can be seen to be active in a much greater variety of pieces and genres
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
, from minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
to concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
to sonata-rondo
Sonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata form and rondo form.- Structure :...
. It also carries with it expressive and stylistic connotations: "sonata style", for Donald Tovey
Donald Francis Tovey
Sir Donald Francis Tovey was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer, conductor and pianist...
as for other theorists of his time, was characterized by drama, dynamism, and a "psychological" approach to theme and expression.
Although the Italian term sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
often refers to a piece in sonata form, it is essential to separate the two. As the title for a single-movement piece of instrumental music—the past participle of suonare, "to sound," as opposed to cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, the past participle of cantare, "to sing"—"sonata" covers many pieces from the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and mid-18th century that are not "in sonata form". Conversely, in the late 18th century or "Classical" period
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
, the title "sonata" is typically given to a work composed of three or four movements. Nonetheless, this multi-movement sequence is not what is meant by sonata form, which refers to the structure of an individual movement.
The definition of sonata form in terms of musical elements sits uneasily between two historical eras. Although the late 18th century witnessed the most exemplary achievements in the form, above all from Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, compositional theory of the time did not use the term "sonata form". Perhaps the most extensive contemporary description of the sonata-form type of movement may have been given by the theorist H. C. Koch in 1793: like earlier German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
theorists and unlike many of the descriptions of the form we are used to today, he defined it in terms of the movement's plan of modulation
Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...
and principal cadences
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
, without saying a great deal about the treatment of themes
Theme (music)
In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is...
. Seen in this way, sonata form was closest to binary form
Binary form
Binary form is a musical form in two related sections, both of which are usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used to choreograph dance....
, out of which it probably developed. The model of the form that is often taught currently tends to be more thematically differentiated. It was originally promulgated by Anton Reicha
Anton Reicha
Anton Reicha was a Czech-born, later naturalized French composer. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Reicha is now best remembered for his substantial early contribution to the wind quintet literature and his role as a teacher – his pupils included Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz...
in Traité de haute composition musicale in 1826, by Adolph Bernhard Marx in Die Lehre von der musikalischen Komposition in 1845, and by Carl Czerny in 1848. Marx may be the originator of the term "sonata form".
This model was derived from study and criticism of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
sonatas.
Definition as a formal model
A sonata-allegro movement is divided into sections. Each section is felt to perform specific functions in the musical argument.It may begin with an introduction, which is, in general, slower than the main movement. In terms of structure, introductions are an upbeat before the main musical argument.
The first required section is the exposition. The exposition presents the primary thematic material for the movement: one or two themes
Theme (music)
In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is...
or theme groups, often in contrasting styles and in opposing keys
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
, connected by a modulating
Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...
transition
Transition (music)
In music, the transition is the middle section or formal function, while the main theme is the beginning, and the subordinate theme is the ending...
. The exposition typically concludes with a closing theme, a codetta, or both.
The exposition is followed by the development where the harmonic
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
and textural
Texture (music)
In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition , thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece...
possibilities of the thematic material are explored.
The development then re-transitions back to the recapitulation where the thematic material returns in the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
key, and for the recapitulation to complete the musical argument, material that has not been stated in the tonic key is "resolved" by being played, in whole or in part, in the tonic.
The movement may conclude with a coda, beyond the final cadence of the recapitulation.
The term 'sonata form' is controversial and has been called misleading by scholars and composers almost from its inception. Its originators implied that there was a set template to which Classical and Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
composers aspired, or should aspire to.
However, sonata form is presently viewed as a model for musical analysis, rather than compositional practice. Although the descriptions on this page could be considered an adequate analysis of many first-movement structures, there are enough variations that theorists such as Charles Rosen have felt them to warrant the plural in 'Sonata forms.'
These variations include, but are not limited to:
- a monothematic exposition, where the same material is presented in different keys, often used by Haydn;
- a 'third subject group' in a different key than the other two, used by SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, and BrucknerAnton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
; - the first theme recapitulated in the 'wrong' key, often the subdominantSubdominantIn music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
, as in Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C, K. 545Piano Sonata No. 16 (Mozart)The Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was described by Mozart himself in his own thematic catalogue as "for beginners," and it is sometimes known by the nickname Sonata facile or Sonata semplice....
and Schubert's third symphonySymphony No. 3 (Schubert)Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 3 in D major, D. 200, was written between 24 May and 19 July 1815, a few months after his eighteenth birthday. The length of this symphony is approximately 21–23 minutes. It is in four movements:...
; - and an extended coda section that pursues developmental, rather than concluding, processes, often found in Beethoven'sLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
middle-period works, such as his third symphonySymphony No. 3 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major , also known as the Eroica , is a landmark musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.The symphony is widely regarded as a mature...
.
Through the Romantic period, formal distortions and variations become so widespread (Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
and Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
among others are cited and studied by James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski earned his Masters and PhD in Music History from Harvard University and has been professor at the Yale Department of Music since 1999...
) that 'sonata form' as it is outlined here is not adequate to describe the complex musical structures that it is often applied to.
In the context of the many late-Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
extended binary forms that bear similarities to sonata form, sonata form can be distinguished by the following three characteristics:
- a separate development section including a retransition
- the simultaneous return of the first subject group and the tonicTonic (music)In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
- a full (or close to full) recapitulation of the second subject group
Introduction
The Introduction section is optional, or may be reduced to a minimum. If it is extended, it is, in general, slower than the main section, and frequently focuses on the dominant keyDominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
. It may or may not contain material that is later stated in the exposition. The introduction increases the weight of the movement, and also permits the composer to begin the exposition with a theme that would be too light to start on its own, as in Haydn's Symphony No. 103 ("The Drumroll")
Symphony No. 103 (Haydn)
The Symphony No. 103 in E-flat major, Hoboken 1/103, is the eleventh of the twelve so-called London Symphonies written by Joseph Haydn.This symphony is nicknamed "The Drumroll", after the long roll on the timpani with which it begins....
and Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds Op. 16
Quintet for Piano and Winds (Beethoven)
Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1796.The quintet is scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon. It was inspired by Mozart's Quintet, K. 452 , which has the same scoring and is also in E-flat.It is in three movements:*I. Grave - Allegro...
. The introduction usually is not included in the exposition repeat.
On occasion, the material of introduction reappears in its original tempo later in the movement. Often, this occurs as late as the coda, as in Mozart's String Quintet in D major K. 593, Haydn's Drumroll Symphony, or Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 ("Pathétique"
Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old, and was published in 1799. Beethoven dedicated the work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky...
).
Exposition
The primary thematic material for the movement is presented in the Exposition. This section can be further divided into several sections. The same section in most sonata form movements has prominent harmonic and thematic parallelisms (although in some works from the 19th century and onward, some of these parallelisms are subject to considerable exceptions), which include:- First subject group, P —this consists of one or more themesTheme (music)In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is...
, all of them in the home key (also called the tonic)—so if the piece is in C major, all of the music in the first group will be in C major. Although some pieces are written differently, most follow this form.
- TransitionTransition (music)In music, the transition is the middle section or formal function, while the main theme is the beginning, and the subordinate theme is the ending...
, T —in this section the composer modulates from the key of the first subject to the key of the second.
- Second subject group, S —one or more themes in a different key from the first group. If the first group is in a major key, the second group will usually be in the dominantDominant (music)In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
. If the original key is C major, for example, the key of the music of the second group will be G major, a perfect fifth higher. If the first group is in a minor key, the second group will, in general, be in the relative major, so that, if the original key is C minor, the second group will be in E-flat major. The material of the second group is often different in rhythm or mood from that of the first group (frequently, it is more lyrical). - Codetta, K —the purpose of this is to bring the exposition section to a close with a perfect cadence in the same key as the second group. The exposition is commonly repeated, particularly in classical works. Often, though not always, the last measure or measures of the exposition are slightly different between the repeats, one to point back to the tonic, where the exposition began, and the second to point towards the development.
Development
In general, the development starts in the same key as the exposition ended, and may move through many different keys during its course. It will usually consist of one or more themes from the exposition altered and on occasion juxtaposed and may include new material or themes – though exactly what is acceptable practice is a famous point of contention. Alterations include taking material through distant keys, breaking down of themes and sequencing of motifs, and so forth.The development varies greatly in length from piece to piece and from time period to time period, sometimes being relatively short compared to the exposition (e.g., the first movement of Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
, K 525/I by Mozart) and in other cases quite long and detailed (e.g., the first movement of the "Eroica" Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major , also known as the Eroica , is a landmark musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.The symphony is widely regarded as a mature...
by Beethoven). Developments in the classical era are typically shorter due to how much composers of that era valued symmetry, unlike the more expressive romantic era ("Eroica" is considered to be the first Romantic symphony) in which development sections gain a much greater importance. However, it almost always shows a greater degree of tonal, harmonic, and rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
ic instability than the other sections. At the end, the music will usually return to the tonic key in preparation of the recapitulation. (On occasion it will actually return to the sub-dominant key and then proceed with the same transition as in the exposition). The transition from the development to the recapitulation is a crucial moment in the work.
The last part of the development section is called the retransition: It prepares for the return of the first subject group in the tonic, most often through a grand prolongation
Prolongation
In music theory, prolongation refers to the process in tonal music through which a pitch, interval, or consonant triad is able to govern spans of music when not physically sounding...
of the dominant seventh. Thus, if the key of the movement is C major, the retransition would most typically stress the dominant seventh chord on G. In addition, the character of the music would signal such a return, often becoming more frenetic (as in the case of the first movement of Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata, Op. 53
Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, also known as the Waldstein, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest piano sonatas, as well as one of the three particularly notable sonatas of his middle period . The sonata was completed in the summer of 1804...
). A rather notable exception to the harmonic norm of the retransition occurs in the first movement of Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
's Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 1. The general key of the movement is C major, and it would then follow that the retransition should stress the dominant seventh chord on G. Instead, it builds in strength over the seventh chord on C, as if the music were proceeding to F major. At the height of the musical tension, this chord triumphs with great volume and wide registral scope on the downbeat, only to take up immediately the first theme in C major – that is, without any standard harmonic preparation. Occasionally, the retransition can begin with a false recapitulation, in which the opening material of the first theme group is presented in a key other than the tonic. The surprise that ensues when the music continues to modulate toward the tonic can be used for either comic or dramatic effect.
Recapitulation
The Recapitulation is an altered repeat of the exposition, and consists of:- First subject group – normally given prominence as the highlight of a recapitulation, it is usually in exactly the same key and form as in the exposition.
- Transition – Often the transition is carried out by introducing novel material, a kind of brief additional development section; this is called a secondary developmentSecondary developmentA secondary development, in music, is a section that appears in certain musical movements written in sonata form. The secondary development resembles a development section in its musical texture, but is shorter and occurs as a kind of excursion within the recapitulation section.Charles Rosen, who...
. - Second subject group – usually in roughly the same form as in the exposition, but now in the home key, which sometimes involves change of mode from major to minor, or vice versa, as occurs in the first movement of MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Symphony No. 40Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, in 1788. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony," to distinguish it from the "Little G minor symphony," No. 25. The two are the only minor key symphonies Mozart wrote....
(K. 550). More often, however, it may be recast in the parallel major of the home key (for example, C major when the movement is in C minor like Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op. 67/I). KeyKey (music)In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
here is more important than mode (major or minor) – the recapitulation provides the needed balance even if the material's mode is changed, so long as there is no longer any key conflict.
Exceptions to the recapitulation form include Mozart and Haydn works that often begin with the second subject group when the first subject group has been elaborated at length in the development.
After the closing cadence the musical argument proper is said to be completed, and, if the movement continues, it is said to have a coda.
Coda
After the final cadence of the recapitulation, the movement may continue with a coda, which will contain material from the movement proper. Codas, when present, vary considerably in length, but, like introductions, are not part of the "argument" of the work. The coda will end, however, with a perfect cadence in the original key. Codas may be quite brief tailpieces, or they may be very long and elaborate. A famous example of the more extended type is the coda to the first movement of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony (no. 3 in E flat), although there are numerous others in Beethoven's music.Explanations for why an extended coda is present vary. One reason may be to omit the repeat of the development and recapitulation sections found in earlier sonata forms of the eighteenth century. Indeed, Beethoven's extended codas often serve the purpose of further development of thematic material.
Monothematic expositions
It is not necessarily the case that the move to the dominant key in the exposition is marked by a new theme. Haydn in particular was fond of using the opening theme, often in a truncated or otherwise altered form, to announce the move to the dominant. Mozart also occasionally wrote such expositions: for instance in the Piano Sonata K. 570Piano Sonata No. 17 (Mozart)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 17 in B flat major, K 570 is a sonata in three movements:#Allegro#Adagio#AllegrettoA typical performance takes about 18 minutes....
or the String Quintet K. 593
String Quintet No. 5 (Mozart)
The String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola .-Movements:...
. Such expositions are often called monothematic, meaning that one theme serves to establish the opposition between tonic and dominant keys. This term is misleading, since most "monothematic" works have multiple themes: most works so labeled have additional themes in the second subject group. Rarely, as in the fourth movement of Haydn's String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 50, No. 1, did composers perform the tour de force of writing a complete sonata exposition with just one theme. A more recent example is Edmund Rubbra
Edmund Rubbra
Edmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his pieces are his eleven...
's 2nd Symphony.
The fact that so-called monothematic expositions usually have additional themes is used by Charles Rosen to illustrate his theory that the Classical sonata form's crucial element is some sort of dramatization of the arrival of the dominant. Using a new theme was a very common way to achieve this, but other resources such as changes in texture, salient cadences and so on were also accepted practice.
Modulation to keys other than the dominant
The key of the second subject may be something other than the dominant or the relativeRelative key
In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures. A major and minor scale sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship...
major (or relative minor). About halfway through his career, Beethoven began to experiment with other tonal relationships between the tonic and the second subject group. The most common practice, for both Beethoven and other composers, the mediant
Mediant
In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
or submediant
Submediant
In music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'...
, rather than the dominant, is used for the second group. For instance, the first movement of the "Waldstein" sonata
Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, also known as the Waldstein, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest piano sonatas, as well as one of the three particularly notable sonatas of his middle period . The sonata was completed in the summer of 1804...
, in C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
, modulates to the mediant E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
, while the opening movement of the "Hammerklavier" sonata
Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 is a piano sonata widely considered to be one of the most important works of the composer's third period and among one of the great piano sonatas...
, in B-flat major, modulates to the submediant G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
.
Expositions with more than two key areas
- Main article: Three-key expositionThree-key expositionIn music, the three-key exposition is a particular kind of exposition used in sonata form.Normally, a sonata form exposition has two main key areas. The first asserts the primary key of the piece, that is, the tonic. The second section moves to a different key, establishes that key firmly,...
The exposition need not only have two key areas. Some composers, most notably Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, composed sonata forms with three or more key areas. The first movement of Schubert's Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden")
Death and the Maiden Quartet (Schubert)
The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as Death and the Maiden, by Franz Schubert, is one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1824, after the composer suffered through a serious illness and realized that he was dying, it is Schubert's testament to death...
, for example, has three separate key and thematic areas, in D minor, F major, and A minor.
Modulations within the first subject group
The first subject group need not be entirely in the tonic key. In the more complex sonata expositions there can be brief modulations to fairly remote keys, followed by reassertion of the tonic. For example, Mozart's String Quintet in C, K. 515String Quintet No. 3 (Mozart)
The String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 is written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like all of Mozart's string quintets, it is a "viola quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet and an extra viola ....
, visits C minor, D-flat major, and D major, before finally moving to the dominant major (G major), and many works by Schubert and later composers utilized even further harmonic convolutions. In the first subject group of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat, D. 960, for example, the theme is presented three times, in B-flat major, in G-flat major, and then again in B-flat major. The second subject group is even more wide-ranging. It begins in F-sharp minor, moves into A major, then through B-flat major to F major.
Sonata form in concerti
An important variant on traditional sonata-allegro form is found in the first movement of the Classical concertoConcerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
. Here, the sonata-allegro's customary 'repeated exposition' is replaced by two different but related sections: the 'tutti exposition' and the 'solo exposition'. Prototypically the 'tutti exposition' does not feature the soloist (except, in early classical works, in a 'continuo' role), and does not contain the decisive sonata-exposition modulation to the secondary key. Only when the 'solo exposition' is under way does the solo instrument assert itself and participate in the move to (classically) the dominant or relative major. The situation is only seemingly different in the case of such late classical works as Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, where the soloist is heard at the outset: as the later unfolding of those movements makes clear, the opening piano solo or early piano flourishes actually precede the start of the exposition proper.
A structural feature that the special textural situation of the concerto makes possible is the 'ownership' of certain themes or materials by the solo instrument; such materials will thus not be exposed until the 'solo' exposition. Mozart was fond of deploying his themes in this way.
Towards the end of the recapitulation of a concerto movement in sonata form, there is usually a cadenza
Cadenza
In music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display....
for the soloist alone. This has an improvisatory character (it may or may not actually be improvised), and, in general, serves to prolong the harmonic tension on a dominant-quality chord before the orchestra ends the piece in the tonic.
The history of sonata form
The term sonata is first found in the 17th century, when instrumental music had just begun to become increasingly separated from vocal music. The original meaning of the term (derived from the Italian word suonare, to sound on instrument) referred to a piece for playing, distinguished from cantataCantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, a piece for singing. At this time, the term implies a binary form, usually AABB with some aspects of three part forms.
The Classical era established the norms of structuring first movements and the standard layouts of multi-movement works. There was a period of a wide variety of layouts and formal structures within first movements that gradually became expected norms of composition. The practice of Haydn and Mozart, as well as other notable composers, became increasingly influential on a generation that sought to exploit the possibilities offered by the forms that Haydn and Mozart had established in their works. In time, theory on the layout of the first movement became more and more focused on understanding the practice of Haydn, Mozart, and, later, Beethoven. Their works were studied, patterns and exceptions to those patterns identified, and the boundaries of acceptable or usual practice set by the understanding of their works. The sonata form as it is described is strongly identified with the norms of the Classical period in music. Even before it had been described the form had become central to music making, absorbing or altering other formal schemas for works.
The Romantic era
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
in music was to accept the centrality of this practice, codify the form explicitly and make instrumental music in this form central to concert and chamber composition and practice, in particular for works that were meant to be regarded as "serious" works of music. Various controversies in the 19th century would center on exactly what the implications of "development" and sonata practice actually meant, and what the role of the Classical masters was in music. It is ironic that, at the same time that the form was being codified (by the likes of Czerny
Carl Czerny
Carl Czerny was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. He is best remembered today for his books of études for the piano. Czerny's music was profoundly influenced by his teachers, Muzio Clementi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Salieri and Ludwig van Beethoven.-Early life:Carl Czerny was born...
and so forth), composers of the day were writing works that flagrantly violated some of the principles of the codified form.
It has continued to be influential through the subsequent history of classical music through to the modern period. The 20th century brought a wealth of scholarship that sought to found the theory of the sonata form on basic tonal laws. The 20th century would see a continued expansion of acceptable practice, leading to the formulation of ideas by which there existed a "sonata principle" or "sonata idea" that unified works of the type, even if they did not explicitly mean the demands of the normative description.
Sonata form and other musical forms
Sonata form shares characteristics with both binary formBinary form
Binary form is a musical form in two related sections, both of which are usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used to choreograph dance....
and ternary form
Ternary form
Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form, usually schematicized as A-B-A. The first and third parts are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second part in some way provides a contrast with them...
. In terms of key relationships, it is very like binary form, with a first half moving from the home key to the dominant and the second half moving back again (this is why sonata form is sometimes known as compound binary form); in other ways it is very like ternary form, being divided into three sections, the first (exposition) of a particular character, the second (development) in contrast to it, the third section (recapitulation) the same as the first.
The early binary sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
provide excellent examples of the transition from binary to sonata-allegro form. Among the many sonatas are numerous examples of the true sonata form being crafted into place. During the 18th century, many other composers like Scarlatti were discovering this same musical form by experimenting at their keyboards with harmony and melody.
Theory of sonata form
The sonata form is a guide to composers as to the schematic for their works, for interpreters to understand the grammar and meaning of a work, and for listeners to understand the significance of musical events. A host of musical details are determined by the harmonic meaning of a particular note, chord or phrase. The sonata form, because it describes the shape and hierarchy of a movement, tells performers what to emphasize, and how to shape phrases of music. Its theory begins with the description, in the 18th century, of schematics for works, and was codified in the early 19th century. This codified form is still used in the pedagogy of the sonata form.In the 20th century, emphasis moved from the study of themes and keys to how harmony changed through the course of a work and the importance of cadences and transitions in establishing a sense of "closeness" and "distance in a sonata". The work of Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis....
and his ideas about "foreground," "middleground," and "background" became enormously influential in the teaching of composition and interpretation. Schenker believed that inevitability was the key hallmark of a successful composer, and that, therefore, works in sonata form should demonstrate an inevitable logic.
In the simplest example, playing of a cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
should be in relationship to the importance of that cadence in the overall form of the work. More important cadences are emphasized by pauses, dynamics, sustaining and so on. False or deceptive cadences are given some of the characteristics of a real cadence, and then this impression is undercut by going forward more quickly. For this reason, changes in performance practice bring changes to the understanding of the relative importance of various aspects of the sonata form. In the Classical era, the importance of sections and cadences and underlying harmonic progressions gives way to an emphasis on themes. The clarity of strongly differentiated major and minor sections gives way to a more equivocal sense of key and mode. These changes produce changes in performance practice: when sections are clear, then there is less need to emphasize the points of articulation. When they are less clear, greater importance is placed on varying the tempo during the course of the music to give "shape" to the music.
Over the last half-century, a critical tradition of examining scores, autographs, annotations, and the historical record has changed, sometimes subtly, on occasion dramatically, the way the sonata form is viewed. It has led to changes in how works are edited; for example, the phrasing of Beethoven's piano works has undergone a shift to longer and longer phrases that are not always in step with the cadences and other formal markers of the sections of the underlying form. Comparing the recordings of Schnabel
Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel was an Austrian classical pianist, who also composed and taught. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura...
, from the beginning of modern recording, with those of Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
and then Pratt
Awadagin Pratt
- Life :When he was 3 years old, Pratt moved with his parents to Normal, Illinois, where Illinois State University had offered his mother a position as a professor of social work and his Sierra Leone-born father, Theodore, one as a physics professor...
shows a distinct shift in how the structure of the sonata form is presented to the listener over time.
For composers, the sonata form is like the plot of a play or movie script, describing when the crucial plot points are, and the kinds of material that should be used to connect them into a coherent and orderly whole. At different times the sonata form has been taken to be quite rigid, and at other times a freer interpretation has been considered permissible.
In the theory of sonata form it is often asserted that other movements stand in relation to the sonata-allegro form, either, per Charles Rosen that they are really "sonata forms", plural – or as Edward T. Cone
Edward T. Cone
Edward Toner Cone was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, and philanthropist.Cone studied composition under Roger Sessions at Princeton University, receiving his bachelor's in 1939...
asserts, that the sonata-allegro is the ideal to which other movement structures "aspire". This is particularly seen to be the case with other movement forms that commonly occur in works thought of as sonatas. As a sign of this the word "sonata" is sometimes prepended to the name of the form, in particular in the case of the "sonata-rondo" form. Slow movements, in particular, are seen as being similar to sonata-allegro form, with differences in phrasing and less emphasis on the development.
However, Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
and other theorists who used his ideas as a point of departure see the theme and variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
as having an underlying role in the construction of formal music, calling the process continuing variation, and argue from this idea that the sonata-allegro form is a means of structuring the continuing variation process. Theorists of this school include Erwin Ratz
Erwin Ratz
Erwin Ratz was an Austrian musicologist and music theorist. He studied musicology with Guido Adler and composition with Arnold Schoenberg and was active in the Schoenberg circle. In the 1920s he worked at the Bauhaus. After World War II he was a professor of musical form and analysis in Vienna...
and William E. Caplin.
Subsections of works are sometimes analyzed as being in sonata form, in particular single movement works, such as the Konzertstück in F minor
Konzertstück for Piano and Orchestra in F minor (Weber)
The Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 79, J. 282, was written by Carl Maria von Weber. He started work on it in 1815, and completed it on the morning of the premiere of his opera Der Freischütz, 18 June 1821...
of Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
.
From the 1950s onward, Hans Keller
Hans Keller
Hans Keller was an influential Austrian-born British musician and writer who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being an insightful commentator on such disparate fields as psychoanalysis and football...
developed a 'two-dimensional' method of analysis that explicitly considered form and structure from the point of view of listener expectations. In his work, the sonata-allegro was a well-implied 'background form' against whose various detailed features composers could compose their individual 'foregrounds'; the 'meaningful contradiction' of expected background by unexpected foreground was seen as generating the expressive content. In Keller's writings, this model is applied in detail to Schoenberg's 12-note works as well as the classical tonal repertoire. In recent times, two other musicologists, James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski earned his Masters and PhD in Music History from Harvard University and has been professor at the Yale Department of Music since 1999...
and Warren Darcy, have presented, without reference to Keller, their analysis, which they term Sonata Theory
Sonata Theory
Sonata Theory is an approach to the description of sonata form in terms of individual works' treatment of generic expectations. For example, it is normative for the secondary theme of a minor-mode sonata to be in either the key of III or v. If a composer chooses to break this norm in a given...
, of the sonata-allegro form and the sonata cycle in terms of genre expectations, and categorized both the sonata-allegro movement and the sonata cycle by the compositional choices made to respect or depart from conventions. Their study focuses on the normative period of sonata practice, notable ones being the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and their close contemporaries, projecting this practice forward to development of the sonata-allegro form into the 19th and 20th centuries.
Musical criticism and sonata form
Owing to its centrality to classical music, the sonata form has been a topic of interest to musical critics since its origin. Contentious opinions include those of prominent critics including Eduard HanslickEduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick was a Bohemian-Austrian music critic.-Biography:Hanslick was born in Prague, the son of Joseph Adolph Hanslick, a bibliographer and music teacher from a German-speaking family, and one of his piano pupils, the daughter of a Jewish merchant from Vienna...
, who praised the form for its intelligibility.
Further reading
- Caplin, William E. (2000). Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514399-X.
- Hepokoski, JamesJames HepokoskiJames Hepokoski earned his Masters and PhD in Music History from Harvard University and has been professor at the Yale Department of Music since 1999...
and Warren, Darcy (2006). Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514640-9. - Newman, William S.William S. NewmanWilliam Stein Newman was an American musicologist.He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. From 1945 he taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
(1980). Sonata in the Classic Era (A History of the Sonata Idea). ISBN 0-393-00623-9 - Newman, William S. (1972). The Sonata in the Baroque Era. ISBN 0-393-00622-0.
- Newman, William S. (1983). The Sonata in the Classic Era. ISBN 0-393-95286-X.
- Newman, William S. (1983). The Sonata Since Beethoven. ISBN 0-393-95290-8.
- Newman, William S. (1995). Beethoven on Beethoven: Playing His Piano Music His Way ISBN 0-393-30719-0.
- Rosen, Charles (1997) The Classical Style. 2nd ed. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-31712-9.
- Rosen, Charles (1998). The Romantic Generation. ISBN 0-674-77934-7.
- Schoenberg, ArnoldArnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
(2010). Harmonielehre (German). ISBN 1147258023. - Schenker, HeinrichHeinrich SchenkerHeinrich Schenker was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis....
(2001). Free Composition (Der freie Satz), v.1. ISBN 1576470741. Trans. Ernst Oster. - Salzer, FelixFelix SalzerFelix Salzer was an Austrian-American music theorist, musicologist and pedagogue. He was one of the principal followers of Heinrich Schenker, and did much to refine and explain Schenkerian analysis after Schenker's death....
(1962). Structural Hearing: Tonal Coherence in Music: Two Volumes Bound As One. ISBN 0486222756. - Sadie, StanleyStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
, ed. (1988). The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music. ISBN 0333432363.
See also
- Closely related keyClosely related keyIn music, a closely related key is one sharing many common tones with an original key, as opposed to a distantly related key...
- Sonata rondo formSonata rondo formSonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata form and rondo form.- Structure :...