Editing Sonata form (section)

==Definition as a formal model==

A sonata-allegro movement is divided into sections. Each section is felt to perform specific functions in the [[musical argument]].
* It may begin with an ''[[#Introduction|introduction]]'', which is, in general, slower than the main movement.
* The first required section is the ''[[#Exposition|exposition]]''. The exposition presents the primary thematic material for the movement: one or two [[Theme (music)|themes]] or theme groups, often in contrasting styles and in opposing [[key (music)|keys]], connected by a [[Modulation (music)|modulating]] [[transition (music)|transition]]. The exposition typically concludes with a closing theme, a ''[[codetta]]'', or both.
* The exposition is followed by the ''[[#Development|development]]'' where the [[Harmony|harmonic]] and [[Texture (music)|textural]] possibilities of the thematic material are explored.
* The development then re-transitions back to the ''[[#Recapitulation|recapitulation]]'' where the thematic material returns in the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] key, and for the recapitulation to complete the musical argument, material that has not been stated in the tonic key is "resolved" by being played, in whole or in part, in the tonic.
* The movement may conclude with a ''[[#Coda|coda]]'', beyond the final cadence of the recapitulation.

The term 'sonata form' is controversial and has been called misleading by scholars and composers almost from its inception. Its originators implied that there was a set template to which Classical and [[Romantic music|Romantic]] composers aspired, or should aspire. However, sonata form is currently viewed as a model for musical analysis, rather than compositional practice. Although the descriptions on this page could be considered an adequate analysis of many first-movement structures, there are enough variations that theorists such as [[Charles Rosen]] have felt them to warrant the plural in 'sonata forms'.<ref name="Rosen" />

These variations include, but are not limited to:
* a monothematic exposition, where the same material is presented in different keys, often used by [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]];
* a 'third subject group' in a different key than the other two, used by [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]] (e.g. in the [[String Quintet (Schubert)|String Quintet, D. 956]]), and [[Anton Bruckner|Bruckner's]] [[Symphony No. 4 (Bruckner)|Symphony No. 4]];
* the first subject recapitulated in the 'wrong' key, often the [[subdominant]], as in Mozart's [[Piano Sonata No. 16 (Mozart)|Piano Sonata No. 16 in C, K. 545]] and Schubert's [[Symphony No. 5 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 5]];
* the second subject group recapitulated in a key other than the tonic, as in [[Richard Strauss]]'s [[Symphony No. 2 (Strauss)|Symphony No. 2]];
* and an extended coda section that pursues developmental, rather than concluding, processes, often found in [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s middle-period works, such as his [[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 3]].

Through the Romantic period, formal distortions and variations become so widespread ([[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]], [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]] and [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]] among others are cited and studied by [[James Hepokoski]]) that 'sonata form' as it is outlined here is not adequate to describe the complex musical structures that it is often applied to.

In the context of the many late-[[Baroque music|Baroque]] extended binary forms that bear similarities to sonata form, sonata form can be distinguished by the following three characteristics:<ref name=webster-grove/>
* a separate development section including a [[#retransition|retransition]]
* the simultaneous return of the first subject group and the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]]
* a full (or close to full) recapitulation of the second subject group