Sonata Form
Throughout each topic there are links to specific music in the main list of suggested listening. There is also a supplementary
list, for further listening. Asterisks in the text refer to works that are on the main list. Don't forget to check the related
listening exercises section for relevant questions and tasks on the music in this topic. Additionally, the related analyses
section directs readers to other useful analyses and descriptions of relevant works.
Words which can be found in the glossary are shown in bold the first time they appear.
Introduction
Sonata form developed out of binary form but can be seen as more like ternary form in the way that it presents thematic
material. You should revise the page on these forms (10) to maximise your understanding of sonata form. In the Classical
period, when it really developed, it became the common form for the first movements of symphonies, sonatas, string quartets
and other genres. Single-movement pieces like overtures can be in sonata form.
Tonally , sonata form is a two-part structure, but it has three sections - the exposition, the development and the
recapitulation. The composer then usually rounds off a sonata-form movement with a coda. It is only possible to make general
comments about the structure of sonata form, since no two sonata form movements are structurally alike!
Overview
A sonata form movement may or may not start with an introduction, which is often slower than the main movement. Following
that, in the exposition, the composer presents his main material for the movement. The main ideas are arranged into subject
groups, and there are usually two of these groups. The two groups are in different keys, the first in the tonic key and the
second in a related key (usually the dominant, or the relative major if the tonic is minor). The subject groups are linked by a
bridge passage, and are often different in character as well. The exposition might finish with a short, often cadential passage
known as a codetta.
In the development, the ideas of the exposition are developed in a variety of ways, which might include altering their character,
keys or elements. Not necessarily all of the material is used in this way. The development is the centre part of the movement,
and accordingly often builds up to a climax - a return to the tonic for the start of the recapitulation.
In the recapitulation, the music of the exposition is repeated but in altered form. The most common change is that the second
subject is now in the tonic key, which makes the bridge passage less important as it now does not modulate. There might be
other changes as well. The coda (literally 'tail') is a short section designed to bring the movement to a close.
Sonata form - plan
EXPOSITION*
DEVELOPMENT
RECAPITULATION
1st subject (tonic)
Development of material
climax
1st subject bridge 2nd
subject (tonic)
bridge (key change) 2nd
subject (related key)
CODA
* Some composers indicate that the exposition should be repeated. Not all performers take notice of this!
Composers used the above model instinctively in the Classical period, though the term 'sonata form' did not become known
until well into the nineteenth century.
In the Baroque period, the foundations for sonata form were laid in the gradual weakening of the differentiation between binary
and ternary form, and the increase in the mid-eighteenth century of the desire for melody-dominated homophony (i.e. a melody
with accompaniment) following the popular polyphony of the Baroque. An important composer in the period leading into the
classical period was C.P.E. Bach (a son of J.S. Bach), who developed a homophonic style using a restricted amount of
melodic material and focussing on changes of key and mood for structural interest. C.P.E. Bach was one of the first
composers to make his themes short and balanced - a trait which influenced Haydn and Mozart.
It was probably Haydn who did the most to develop and hone the sonata principal, and examples of the form can be found in
the first movements of many of his sonatas, symphonies and string quartets. In this way Haydn can be seen as having set
the standard for other composers to follow and adapt to their own style. Both Mozart and Beethoven did this; Mozart* adapted
the form so that he could use it in concertos (see the page on the concerto (17) for more detail) and even in operas.
Beethoven, like Mozart, extended the scope and range of the subject groups, often using remote keys for the second subject
group, and thus became the inspiration for many composers of the Romantic period, making the form structurally sound but at
the same time flexible enough to incorporate his increased desire for moments of drama and the unexpected. Sonata form
became common in slow movements and finales, as well as opening movements.
In the Romantic period there were many changes to sonata form, which many composers thought too restrictive in an age
where emotion and fantasy played a bigger part in the compositional process. For example, more attention was paid to contrast
between the first and second subjects and key structures became more fluid and varied; there was also less exact repetition
which resulted in recapitulations being quite different to expositions. Sonata form became more of a guide than a model as
composers searched for new ways to structure their large-scale compositions, such as thematic transformation. The first
movements of the pieces in the suggested listening by Schubert and Brahms* are in sonata form - and the exposition of
Schubert's Symphony No. 8* is analysed in some detail. However, sonata form has survived and many composers of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries have used it successfully, even in pieces where key relationships in a tonal sense have
become less important.
Suggested listening
MOZART: Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major, K. 280: 1st movement
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 in B minor 'Unfinished': 1 st movement
BRAHMS: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34: 1 st movement
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 'Classical': 1 st movement
What to listen for
Mozart
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major, K. 280 (first movement)
This sonata was written - along with six others - in January 1775 while Mozart was in Munich for the production of an early
opera. The first movement is in sonata form, and begins with a long first subject, which is sometimes triadic, sometimes
chromatic, and sometimes syncopated. It is accompanied by a mixture of chordal and alberti bass figuration, and the
harmonic language is generally simple (e.g. the first four bars use only tonic and dominant chords).
A bridge passage begins at 0:15 and consists of triplets in the right hand and octaves in the left, working through a number of
tonal centres and some diminished chords. A feminine cadence leads into the C major second subject at 0:32. Here the
theme consists of a left hand triad (an inversion of the opening first subject idea) and a semiquaver figure which is repeated
twice in different keys. This is followed by the triplet idea from the bridge passage, and more semiquaver patterns which
continue to modulate through a variety of keys until the music settles once more in C major at the codetta (0:52), an extended
cadence. The exposition then repeats.
The development starts at 2:17 and concentrates on the rhythmic aspects of the exposition material - especially triplets. A
dotted idea is introduced, and after a pedal G (2:25) the second subject is developed with a number of sequential passages.
The recapitulation starts at 2:52 and starts with an exact repeat of the first subject, followed by the triplet bridge passage
which - as expected - does not modulate. There is some development of the falling bass line here (3:12), and the second
subject, now in the tonic (3:23), is extended with a sequential passage (3:32) but otherwise remains fairly true to the original.
The coda at 3:50 is very similar to the codetta of the exposition.
Schubert
Symphony No. 8 in B minor 'Unfinished': 1 st movement
Schubert composed this two-movement symphony in 1822, though it was not discovered and performed until 1865. The fact
that sketches for a third movement were also discovered suggests that the symphony is indeed unfinished, and he probably
put it aside to work on other smaller-scale pieces, since there was a stronger chance that these would be performed.
We will concentrate in some detail on just the exposition of the first movement, mainly to see how the application of sonata
form principles had changed in the fifty years since the Mozart sonata described above. The first subject group commences
with a low, slow-moving theme suggesting calmness despite the tempo indication of Allegro moderato. There is a pause on F
sharp before a chromatic accompaniment figure begins in the strings over a pedal B, while a new theme (0:17) on woodwind
moves slowly and modulates to D major, relying on a short, two-bar horn reply (0:37) to get it back to B minor again. The theme
is repeated and extended, with a countermelody in the middle texture (0:46) modulating to G and then A major before the horn
reply appears again (0:52). This countermelody then continues and builds to a climactic perfect cadence in the tonic key.
A held D, the middle note of a B minor triad, heralds the start of the extremely short bridge passage at 1:08. This D is used as
a 'pivot' note, moving us to the slightly unexpected key of G major (which also contains a D in its triad). This 'pivot' method of
modulating was a favourite of Schubert's.
The second subject begins, in G major, at 1:16, with a syncopated accompaniment in the clarinets. As with the first subject,
we hear two bars of this accompaniment before the theme begins. This theme is first heard in the cellos, and is simple and
symmetrical - the first two bars followed by a sort of mirror-image answer. The theme is then extended and modulates to A
minor (1:33) and back to G, where the violins repeat the theme and then suddenly stop rather than continuing to a cadence
(1:56).
We then hear remote-sounding loud chords of C minor, G minor and E flat major, which builds up to a diminished-seventh chord
(2:15). Snippets of the second subject then appear in antiphony (2:19) and there is more modulation through the keys of A
minor, G minor and then the dominant of D major. More loud chords at 2:42 take us back to G major (the key of the second
subject) and it seems as if the second subject is going to be repeated (2:58). In fact, this only happens in part, and another
pivot note at 3:17 takes us into the brief codetta in preparation for either the repeat of the exposition or the start of the
development.
Related listening exercises
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor
Further Study (57) Assignment V
Clementi: Sonata in D major
Further Study (57) Assignment F
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major 'Classical'
Related Analyses
Beethoven: Symphony No.3
Brahms: Symphony No.4
Haydn: Symphony No.83
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Schubert: Symphony No.5
Further Study (57) Assignment U
Supplementary suggested listening
Classical
HAYDN: String Quartet No. 67 in F major, Op. 77, No. 2, Hob. III:82 'Lobkowitz': 1st movement
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 'Waldstein': 1 st movement