sonata form

n. Music A form of a movement consisting of three sections, the exposition, development, and recapitulation, often followed by a coda.

sonata form

n (Classical Music) a musical structure consisting of an expanded ternary form whose three sections (exposition, development, and recapitulation), followed by a coda, are characteristic of the first movement in a sonata, symphony, string quartet, concerto, etc

sona′ta form`

n. a musical form comprising an exposition, a development section, and a recapitulation of the exposition.

Thesaurus

Noun

sonata form - a musical form having 3 sections -- exposition and development and recapitulation; characteristic of 1st movement of a sonata or symphonyart form - (architecture) a form of artistic expression (such as writing or painting or architecture)

Translations

Sonata Form

the most developed of the noncyclic forms of instrumental music. The lengthy historical development of the sonata form led in the late 18th century to the crystallization of strict compositional norms in the works of the Viennese classical composers Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. These norms stipulated a sonata form consisting of three major sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.

The exposition usually consists of four subsections: first theme, bridge passage, second theme, and closing section. The first theme is stated in a tonic key. The bridge passage prepares the second theme, which is in the dominant or relative key and may actually contain several themes. The closing section features a new theme or several motifs and phrases of a concluding nature.

In the second section—the development—the thematic material of the exposition is intensively developed and several keys alternate with one another.

In the third section—the recapitulation—the material of the exposition appears again, but the first and second themes are set forth in one (the tonic) key.

The sonata form often includes two optional sections—an introduction and a coda. This prescriptive plan for the sonata form has changed in the process of historical evolution, but its primary characteristics—three major sections and a juxtaposition of two or more themes that is capable of embodying significant contrasts of image and reflecting the conflicts of real life—remain the principal traits of the form. The sonata form is used in the first movements of cyclic works, such as the symphony, sonata, trio, and quartet, and in individual, independent works, such as overtures and tone poems.

V. P. BOBROVSKII

sonata form

sonata form

sonata form

sona′ta form`

Sonata Form

Sonata Form

sonata form

Words related to sonata form

noun a musical form having 3 sections -- exposition and development and recapitulation

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