anatomy of a sonata?

[zynthetix]

Can anyone please tell me the form/structure/arrangement of a sonata?
I can remember that there are 4 sections (A, B, C, and D) but I don't remember the order of repititions and primes.
It goes something along the lines of "A :A repeat : B : A prime...."

Also, is it typical procedure (Classically speaking) to cycle through the circle of fifths when changing sections? (I.e. "A" starts in C major, then "B" changes to G major, then "C" changes to D major, etc.)

[elektro80]

Well.. there is a lot about the sonata.

I grabbed this from a page just down the road:


the first movement of a sonata from the classical period often has a structure that is called SONATA FORM or SONATA-ALLEGRO form. This structure involves the revealing or EXPOSITION of a musical theme, or themes. Then these themes are developed mainly by changing the KEY that they were originally played in. This occurs in the DEVELOPMENT. Finally the themes are brought back to the home key of the piece during the RETRANSITION and the main themes are repeated in the RECAPITULATION before the piece ends.


Thus the TITLE of a piece might be Beethoven's sonata for Piano and Cello in C Major. Besides the fact that the title tells you Beethoven wrote it and it's for the piano and cello, the title also tells you that the piece will probably have at least some aspects of sonata form, although it does not have to. It also tells you that the main or home KEY of the piece revolves around the note "C". Most of us know the note "C" from "middle"C" on the piano. The music will move away from and head towards the note "C" as the composition unfolds. Some sounds will have a strong relationship to the sound of "C" and others will not.


Although many people have tried to apply the definition of sonata rigidly to pieces composed during the classical period, most of the masterpieces created during this period follow the form only in a general way and not necessarily in a strict manner.


......
This quote does not say it all and is a bit shallow.. but I guess you get the drift anyway


We have a lot of theory links in the links section and you wil easily find more there.
It all depends on how much you want to conform or not.

[mosc]

Here's a good link: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/g_sonata_form.html

and this: http://www.musickit.com/resources/son-allegro.html

and this: http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/s/so/sonata_form.html

-- That's enough ...

[zynthetix]

Thanks a lot, my questions have been answered by this.

[jeff harrington]

[mosc]

Yes, the classical music forms are great. I use them all the time, at least I keep them in the back of my mind whenever I work. They are especially useful for free improvisation, and they are invaluable for deliberate formal composition.

Last year when Xeroid Entity, strictly improvisation, drove up toe Toronto to perform at the Ambient Ping, we listened to lots of music, including Mozart Piano Concerti. If you're interested in beautiful music forms, these are gems, IMHO.

We also listened to Nancarrow.

Some of the old 20th century composers, like John Cage, argued at all music has form, even when it is composed using strictly chance mechanisms. Well, that's certainly the case. We don't want to get hung up on forms, but when the music has no tonal center, rhythmic structure, and is created with an open palette of noise and sounds, then paying attention to form isn't too bad an idea.

Most human beings get pretty bored with pure randomness. I think this is a built-in evolutionary thing. We also get bored by repetition; sometimes we call it mindless repetition. Adding structure and from to music helps keep it in the realm of interest. The classical forms are tried and true; I'm not surprised they are still in use today.