Editing Sonata form (section)

===Recapitulations in the "wrong key"===
In the recapitulation section, the key of the first subject group may be in a key other than tonic, most often in the subdominant, known as a "subdominant recapitulation". In some pieces by Mozart, such as Mozart's [[Piano Sonata No. 16 (Mozart)|Piano Sonata No. 16 in C, K. 545]], or the finale of his [[String Quartet No. 14 (Mozart)|String Quartet No. 14 in G, K. 387]], the first subject group will be in the subdominant and then modulate back to tonic for the second subject group and coda. This case is also found in the first movement of Beethoven's [[Violin Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven)|"Kreutzer" sonata]]. Schubert was also a prominent user of the subdominant recapitulation; it appears for example in the opening movements of his [[Symphony No. 2 (Schubert)|Symphonies No. 2]] and [[Symphony No. 5 (Schubert)|No. 5]], as well as those of his piano sonatas [[Piano Sonata in C major, D 279 (Schubert)|D 279]], [[Piano Sonata in E major, D 459 (Schubert)|D 459]], [[Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537 (Schubert)|D 537]], [[Piano Sonata in B major, D 575 (Schubert)|D 575]], as well as the finale of [[Piano Sonata in A major, D 664 (Schubert)|D 664]]. Sometimes this effect is also used for false reprises in the "wrong key" that are soon followed by the actual recapitulation in the tonic, such as in the first movement of Haydn's [[String Quartets, Op. 76 (Haydn)|quartet Op. 76 No. 1 in G]] (false reprise in the subdominant), or the finale of Schubert's [[Piano Sonata in A major, D 959 (Schubert)|piano sonata in A, D 959]] (false reprise in the major submediant). A special case is the recapitulation that begins in the tonic minor, for example in the [[slow movement (music)|slow movement]] of Haydn's quartet Op. 76 No. 4 in E{{music|b}}, or the opening movement of Haydn's [[Symphony No. 47 (Haydn)|Symphony No. 47]] in G major. In the Classical period, the subdominant is the only possible substitute for the tonic at this position (because any other key would need resolution and would have to be introduced as a false reprise in the development), but with the erosion of the distinction between the sharp and flat directions and the blurring of tonal areas true recapitulations beginning in other keys became possible after around 1825.

It is possible for the first subject group to begin in tonic (or a key other than tonic), modulate to another key and then back to tonic for the second subject group. In the finale of the original 1872 version of Tchaikovsky's [[Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)|Symphony No. 2]], the first subject group begins in the tonic [[C major]], modulates to [[E-flat major|E{{music|b}} major]], then through [[E major]], and then modulates back to tonic for the second subject group and coda. And in the last movement of Schubert's [[Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 9]] in C major, the first subject group is in the flattened mediant E{{music|b}} major, modulates to the subdominant [[F major]] and then back to tonic for the second subject group and coda. It is also possible to have the second subject group in a key other than tonic while the first subject group is in the home key. For instance in the first movement of [[Richard Strauss]]'s [[Symphony No. 2 (Strauss)|Symphony No. 2]] in [[F minor]], the recapitulation begins with the first subject group in tonic but modulates to the mediant [[A-flat major|A{{music|b}} major]] for the second subject group before modulating back to F minor for the coda.  Another example is the first movement of [[Antonin Dvorak|Dvorak]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Dvorak)|Symphony No. 9.]] The recapitulation begins in the tonic E minor for the first subject group, but the second subject group modulates to G-sharp minor, then through A-flat major before modulating back to the tonic key for the coda. Similarly, in Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)|"Waldstein" Sonata]], the first subject group is in the tonic C major, then modulates to A major for the first part of the second subject group but quickly goes through A minor to modulate back to tonic for the rest of the second subject group and coda.  

Another possibility is both subject groups in the recapitulation going through multiple keys.  In the first movement of Schubert's [[Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 8]], the first subject group begins in the tonic B minor but modulates to E minor and then to F{{music|#}} minor.  The second subject group starts in the mediant D major before modulating to the parallel tonic B major.

Romantic works even exhibit [[progressive tonality]] in sonata form: for example, the second movement 'Quasi-Faust' from [[Charles-Valentin Alkan]]'s ''[[Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges']]'' is in D{{music|#}} minor, and while the exposition travels from D{{music|#}} to the major subdominant G{{music|#}} major, the recapitulation begins again in D{{music|#}} minor and ends in the relative major F{{music|#}} major, and stays there till the end of the movement. Such a scheme may have been constructed to conform with the programmatic nature of the movement, but also fits well with the Romantic penchant for beginning a work at maximum tension and decreasing the tension afterwards, so that the point of ultimate stability is not reached until the last possible moment. (Furthermore, the identification of a minor key with its relative major is common in the Romantic period, supplanting the earlier Classical identification of a minor key with its parallel major.)