The primary theme in this exposition is a sentence, heard first in mm. The harmonic setting is stable and unambiguous, giving the listener a solid sense of the key: E b major. The theme itself is clear and easy to remember. It ends with a half cadence in m.
The new material in m. The left hand switches to a more energetic triplet rhythm while the right hand plays figures that are sequenced first up mm. These elements project a strong sense of motion toward something new, inviting the listener to keep on the lookout out for a clear indication of where the passage will lead. The expected signal turns out to be a prolonged F-major chord in mm. When a minor seventh E b is added to a clear arpeggiation of the chord in m.
This is the medial caesura. Although the music does not stop, there is still a clear halting of the harmonic motion heard earlier in the transition. The F dominant seventh clearly implies a resolution to B b and that is exactly what happens next. The secondary theme area begins with a new melody in B b major m. The melody is not entirely unrelated to the primary theme, but is distinct enough to identify it as something new. Whereas the primary theme area consisted of a repeated sentence, the main melodic material of the secondary theme area consists of a parallel period—the antecedent ends with a HC in m.
The remainder of the exposition presents a series of conclusive PACs in B b major, confirming the move to the new key. We may call the material in mm. As we will see in the following analyses, this particular figure is often used to signal a particularly important structural cadence. The development begins after the exposition repeats. In this case, we hear quite a bit of the opening material coming back in new and interesting ways.
The triplets, for example, are reminiscent of the transition section heard after the primary theme area. This is appropriate since, like the transition section itself, one of the functions of the development is to transition back to the original key area. Compare mm. They are nearly identical, though here it is a G-major chord that is being prolonged.
Since the F-major prolongation led to the secondary theme in the key of B b major, the listener might expect to hear the secondary theme in C major next. Instead, we are presented with the second half of the primary theme, but now in the relative key of C minor! False leads such as this and other surprises are to be expected in a typical development section. The retransition begins in m. At this point in the development section the listener may have given up on trying to figure out where things are going!
We first hear the V 7 of the home key in m. The following measures clear things up a bit. Several repetitions of this same chord resolving to E b -major, indicate that we have returned to the home key. The big HC in m. The recapitulation proceeds as expected with some minor adjustments. Here, for example, we hear only the first eight bars of primary theme area.
The transition section also returns more or less intact, but with one very important change. Here in the recapitulation it has been transposed down a perfect fifth compare m. The transposed transition now leads to a half cadence in E b major instead of B b major. Everything that follows matches the secondary theme area of the exposition, but now in the home key.
The primary theme in this sonata form is a double period. Phrases ending in an IAC m. The transition section begins on an elided cadence , a phrase overlap in which the concluding tonic of one phrase also serves as the beginning of the next phrase.
Again, the transition section is marked not only by a cadence ending the opening section but also by a shift in figuration. In this case, the octave scales in mm. Since this piece begins in major, we can expect it to modulate to the dominant somewhere before the secondary theme area.
Since the dominant of C major is G major, the telltale accidental will be an F. To the listener expecting a half cadence in the new key, the arpeggiated dominant seventh chord in m.
The new theme in m. The only problem is that it does not last. After just four bars we find another large half cadence: a highly unstable V 7 chord in third inversion marked by a fermata and followed by rests in both staves.
This is the true medial caesura—the arpeggiated dominant in m. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, sonata form was exceptionally popular during the common practice era. We may understand moments such as these, then, as composers having a bit of fun, playing with the expectations of an informed listener. In this piece, the secondary theme area beginning with the pickup to m.
We hear a set of three four-bar phrases—mm. Cases such as this are why some analysts use the term second theme group. Beginning in m.
As was the case with Example 38—5, we may hear the terminative passage that follows this cadence as a closing theme mm. The development in this sonata begins with material that is reminiscent of the secondary theme area but distinct enough that it may be heard as a new melody—compare, for example, mm.
When this ends in m. In this case, though, they end on G and lead to a new melody in A minor, the relative minor of the home key mm. After a pronounced half cadence in m. Only minor alterations are made in the recapitulation, mostly in the form of omissions. In the primary theme area, for example, we hear only the second half of the double period that opened the piece.
The transition section is much shorter, too, consisting of only the false secondary theme from m. The first eight bars of the secondary theme area are cut entirely in the recapitulation, but the material from mm.
Listen for a change in character in which the clear presentation of a melody shifts to arpeggios and passagework. Listen for the standout cadences: HC in m. G major to G minor to B b major to C major.
Sonata forms almost invariably end with material from the end of the exposition transposed to the home key. One of the most surprising features of this sonata form is the repeated delay of the secondary theme area. Following a pair of parallel phrases in the primary theme area, the transition begins in m. Since this piece begins in C major, we may expect to find F s indicating a move to the dominant. Violin, cello and flute sonatas were all popular.
Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven all wrote piano sonatas, violin sonatas and cello sonatas. The standard Classical form is:. Save Word. Definition of sonata form. Examples of sonata form in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web Contrary to classical sonata form there is no slow movement, no brooding themes, nothing to detract from the buoyant mood.
First Known Use of sonata form , in the meaning defined above. Learn More About sonata form. Time Traveler for sonata form The first known use of sonata form was in See more words from the same year. Statistics for sonata form Look-up Popularity. Here's the main theme. So there we are, solidly established in the dominant key of G-major and the exposition part of this movement is over.
Now at this point in the classical sonata we usually bump smack into a repeat sign, which means go back to the beginning and play that whole A Section or exposition you have just heard, all over again. Just like the Beatles: Remember? You repeat that phrase. And so for the second time, we hear the full exposition - first theme, second theme, and closing theme; starting in the tonic and winding up in the dominant. But there's no point in playing it for you now.
You've all just heard it. So you go on to the next section. Actually this whole exposition we've just heard is like a drama, the drama of running away from home—a pulling away from that magnet we call the tonic.
Now the next act coming up, the development, intensifies that drama, wandering even farther away from home, through even more distant keys, but then finally giving in and coming home in the third act—or recapitulation. That's the drama of it all. So in the second part, or development section of this Mozart sonata, the composer lets his imagination roam free; the themes he has stated in the exposition wander around in one foreign key after another—like a trip around the world.
Now because this particular sonata of Mozart's is a very short one, the development section is also very short. In fact the only theme Mozart does develop is that little fanfare tune we just heard—the closing theme of the exposition.
Which brings us to the third and last section of this three-part sonata form—the recapitulation. And this is the moment when that magnet we were talking about finally wins out and draws us back home, to the tonic; and the whole exposition is repeated or recapitulated. Only this time we must hear it all in the tonic key, even the second theme and the closing theme, which we originally heard in the dominant; so that when the movement is over, we are safely at home, in C major where we began.
Of course Mozart, like all geniuses is full of surprises. He doesn't always play the game according to the rules. In fact he often gives us more musical pleasure by breaking rules than by obeying them.
In this C-major Sonata of his, where the recapitulation should be in the tonic in the key of C, Mozart holds out on us; he is still resisting that magnet of the tonic; and so he gives us the recapitulation in the unexpected key of F.
But now Mozart yields, and the magnet wins after all. The rest of this little movement is all safe and warm, back home in C-major. Now that wasn't too terribly hard, was it? It's certainly hard to play. It sounds easier that it is. But it's not very hard to follow the form. Do you see now what I mean by balance and contrast? The balance of the three-part form the exposition, the development, and the recapitulation , and the contrast of the tonic with the dominant.
Of course there's much more to it than we can explain in this brief hour: The contrasting key is not always in the dominant; rules get broken right and left. And then there's the whole business of introductions and codas—which means extra sections at the beginning and end of a sonata movement; but you've got plenty of time to learn about those. What matters now is that you see the two main things: the magnetic effect of the tonic, and the A-B-A form.
Armed with only that information, you should be able to recognize and follow any classical sonata form movement. Just to see if I'm right, I'm going to throw you a curve and play you the last movement of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony—a modern work, but a deliciously spoofing imitation of the 18th-century classical sonata form. It has an exposition consisting of a first theme in the tonic, a second theme in the dominant, and a closing theme in the dominant. Then that whole exposition section is repeated exactly; then a development section in which these themes are tossed around; and then finally the recapitulation which is the whole exposition again, only all in the tonic.
It is a perfect example: sonata form at its simplest and clearest A-B-A. See if you can follow it.
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