piano concerto only very rarely has four movements whereas a piano sonata usually has
either three or four movements.
The above discussion gives a general outline of the psychological scheme of a multi-
movement composition by a classical composer such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or
Schubert, or by a romantic composer such as Chopin of Brahms, whether it is a piano
sonata, a piano concerto, a symphony, a piano quartet, or a string quartet.
Sonata form
Generally
Sonata form is a form that has been used widely since the early classical period. It has
typically been used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces and is therefore
more specifically referred to as sonata-allegro form or first-movement form. Sonata form
was traditionally seen as a way of organising the musical ideas in a movement on the
basis of key. While not described and named until the early nineteenth century, the form
derived from the binary form used by eighteenth century classical composers such as
Johann Stamitz, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach. It came into
common use in the works of later composers of the period, most notably Joseph Haydn
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sonata form is used for the first movement of piano
sonatas and also for the first movement of other instrumental sonatas, symphonies, piano
and instrumental concertos, string quartets and other chamber music.
A movement in sonata form sometimes begins with an introduction which is usually
slower than the exposition. The exposition presents the primary thematic material for the
movement in one or two key groups, often in contrasting styles and opposing keys,
bridged by a transition. The exposition typically concludes with a closing theme, a
codetta, or both. The exposition is followed by the development section where the
harmonic and textural possibilities of the thematic material are explored. The
development section then transitions to the recapitulation where the thematic material
returns in the tonic key. The movement may conclude with a coda, beyond the final
cadence of the recapitulation.
The term ‘sonata form’ is controversial, and arguably quite misleading, implying that
there was a set template to which classical and romantic composers aspired. In fact
‘sonata form’ is more of a model developed for musical analysis and should be viewed as
such. There are enough variations to ‘sonata form’ to warrant the term ‘sonata forms’.
These included a monothematic exposition with the same material in different keys (used
by Haydn), a ‘third subject group’ in a different key to the other two (used by Schubert
and Brahms, the recapitulation of the second subject in the ‘wrong’ key such as the
subdominant (Mozart’s piano sonata in C major K 545 and Schubert’s symphony no. 3),
and an extended coda section in which typically developmental rather than concluding
processes are pursued (Beethoven’s middle-period works such as his symphony no. 3).
Throughout the romantic period variations became so widespread that ‘sonata form’ is
not adequate to describe the complex musical structures to which it is applied.