Sonata, allegro form?!
Question: Does anyone know the layout of a sonata allegro?
Answers: Does anyone know the layout of a sonata allegro?
I'll attempt to lay this out so it makes some sense:
Sonata form was developed in the Classical period (the period of Haydn and Mozart) and was used mostly in the opening movements of symphonies and concertos (but not exclusively so). It has survived more or less intact to the present day and is still used by some composers: To summarise sonata form is as follows:
1a Exposition (I) Main theme (first subject)
1b Exposition (II) Contrasting theme in a different but related key (second subject)
2 Development (where the themes are varied, combined, turned upside down, inside out and back-to-front, just for example)
3 Recapitulation (two main subjects are restated but perhaps not exactly as in the 'exposition')
Optional 4 Coda (a short closing section which may or may not use previously presented material (but it usually does)
Sometimes the recapitulation will be quite involved, incorporating a second 'development' section.
This all looks relatively simple but was honed to a fine and sometimes complex art by composers such as Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler.
The purpose of sonata form is to give a structure and compositional discipline to a piece of music.
Hope that helps.
Well, traditional sonata form would be exposition, development, and recapitulation. Allegro might hint that it is in a quick tempo, but I believe the terms Sonata and Sonata Allegro are used interchangeably. There is a very in depth article on the subject here: http://en.music-web.org/encyclopedia/Son...
The second section “Structure of the Classical sonata” is, I believe, what you are looking for.
Sam, here are some visual sites that might help:
Diagram of a Mozart piece in Sonata-allegro form:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall05/l...
A discussion of construction of Sonata-allegro form:
http://www.scottfoglesong.com/misc/form_...
Another outline and diagram:
http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/musi...
Musician, composer, teacher.