A beginner's guide to sonata-allegro form
Jan. 21st, 2012 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eponymous_roseI'm a scientist, and I've done posts like this about science that interests me, but I'm also a classically trained pianist, and I think that one of the absolute greatest things anyone has ever taught me was how to listen to classical music - and I don't mean sit in concert halls and nod sagely and go "hmm, yes, quite nice", I mean really listen. So I'd like to pass that on to you, if you're curious or bored or getting a vague sense that this is something wonderful and huge that you now have a perfect excuse to experience.
Here's the thing - the vast majority of songs you hear on the radio are going to follow a certain formula. You've got your verses ("In the town where I was born/Lived a man who sailed to sea"), your chorus ("We all live in a yellow submarine") that's the always-stuck-in-your-head bit that pops up between verses, and somewhere around the middle you'll get a bridge with different instrumentation, often in a different key (this particular example has an instrumental bridge). This is, happily, a little point of commonality with the often-arcane world of classical music. In particular, I'm going to chat a bit (using an example!) about a certain form of music, a formula like the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus form you get so often in popular music.
This formula's called sonata-allegro form, and it was incredibly popular in the late 18th and early 19th century. Folks like Mozart loved this sucker, and a whole lot of pieces from that period have sonata-allegro form written all over them.
If you can get the hang of sonata-allegro form, you've got a pretty great start when it comes to understanding the structure behind this kind of music (and you've got a better chance at staying awake in a concert hall). So if you've got the time, sit back, relax, turn up your speakers, and let me try to talk you into really listening to this particular piece of music.
Sonata-allegro form has a pretty cool general structure, and it's one that's fairly self-explanatory. The first section is called the Exposition. The second is the Development. The third is the Recapitulation. Sounds like it's telling a story, huh?
The piece I've chosen to illustrate this form is the first movement of Mozart's 40th Symphony, in part because it's a great example of the form, in part because it tells a very interesting story indeed, and in part because I love this piece so much that I think I would be okay with welding it permanently into my brain. If, y'know, that were a thing people did. Ahem. Moving right along.
Probably the best way to do this is to open a second copy of this post, so you can read at the same time as you listen/pause/jump to different parts. Or print it out, possibly. The timestamps will be bolded, and include links to the audio itself, so you can jump from place to place with a single click, but you'll still need to stop the audio at the right place.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.
Exposition
The first section, as the name suggests, is where Mozart introduces our characters, the setting, and even foreshadows the ending. There are, in fact, two "characters" in sonata-allegro form: the two main themes, which are melodies that will shape the entire piece to come.
0:03-0:26 This is our first character, Theme #1. Listen to it a couple of times, get familiar with it, shake its hand. It's a little agitated with those strings constantly rumbling away in the background, vrm-vrm-vrm-vrm, isn't it? And the higher strings keep forcing that same little motif over and over, almost obsessively. It's also in a minor key, which happens to be G minor - all this means is that the melody feels kinda sad or plaintive or angry or... not quite settled.
Between 0:21-0:26, we get what's called a Cadence, which is basically musical punctuation - it gives the sense that we've just made a statement. Okay, the music says, here's your theme, enjoy. Period.
Now, let's keep moving, through 0:26-0:51. This is still our agitated, obsessive friend, Theme #1, but modulating into a different key - it's taken on a different tone, some new instruments are breaking through those obsessive strings, and all of a sudden we're moving into what's called the Bridge, transitioning from that first theme to an introduction of a new character altogether. There are some happier notes in the bridge, though the strings keep trying to force it back to that initial, agitated state. We get a slightly more subtle cadence, and things get very quiet, and everyone takes a breath as our second character takes the stage.
0:51-1:18 Well, well, this is certainly a different beast! Theme #2 is sweet, pleasant, gentle, full of new instruments and a pastoral, lyrical quality that is wonderfully different from that initial nervous energy. There's a hint of that old darkness, but it's abolished in the cadence closing off this theme. Part of the reason for this change in mood is the key change - thanks to the bridge, we're now in B flat major, which is a much more comfortable and pleasant place to be. Major keys come across as cheerful, triumphant, peaceful, bright where minor keys are dark.
So we've set up a contrast here between Theme #1 (dark, moody, obsessive) and Theme #2 (gentle, playful, lyrical). Things are gonna get good.
1:19-1:51 This is what's known as the Closing Section, and it's grabbing material from all over the place. Our characters have met, and they're setting off on their adventure together - you can feel the music building toward something, and by now you may have a guess as to what that something might be-
1:51-1:57 Another cadence! That's quite a cadence, an exclamation point on the musical punctuation spectrum - we've introduced our two themes, they're ready to go. But wait! There's one more note after that very final-sounding cadence aaand...
1:57-3:53 Yup, you got it, we're repeating the entire Exposition from scratch, exactly as it was played before. Think of this as a great chance to get reacquainted with these two characters - see how much of the above you can identify the second time around, without looking. It's like reading a complicated mystery book and flipping back a few pages to make sure you know what's going on before people start dropping like flies. By the end of this, those two characters are pretty solid in your head. (This repeat goes in and out of style - some pieces/performances have it, some don't.)
Okay, we're back to the cadence... what now?
Development
Thank you, bold/underlined topic heading! The development. There are several different places in sonata-allegro form for genius to really shine through - those first two themes are one, of course, but the development is where the composer gets a chance to really show off. It's a loosely defined section compared to the other two, and mainly consists of letting the themes bounce off each other in new and interesting ways, morphing and shifting.
3:53-4:10 Well, this is certainly our old friend Theme #1, but it's undergoing a bit of a change, called a Sequence, where the same melody is played at different pitches, although this sucker's starting to modulate all over the place into new and exciting directions. And something's building at the end...
4:10-4:33 Things are getting passionate - Theme #1 is getting tossed around, with echoes of the instrumentation of Theme #2 popping up here and there. Can you hear the transition into a more major key, the glimmer of something triumphant, up to about 4:27? Then things start getting dark again.
4:33-4:48 We're getting quiet. The theme is at its simplest, with the strings chatting away with the other instruments, kind of like the back-and-forth repartee that defined Theme #2. (Go back and listen if you've forgotten!)
4:48-5:03 Ack! Whoa. Theme #1 did not respond well to being quieted down and shifted into gentler instrumentation. The strings are lashing out.
5:03-5:06 Another, more subdued attempt at quietness... and there's something familiar underlying it...
Recapitulation
Yup, we're into the last section. We've introduced two characters, developed a conflict, and now we're going to sum things up. The recap fits a very straightforward setup: Theme #1 is repeated, we get a bridge, we play Theme #2, and there's a closing section. But this is a story, and the most important thing about storytelling is that your characters change from start to finish. You guessed it - there's a twist coming up.
5:06-5:31 Yup, here's Theme #1 again, repeated in all its dark and minor-key glory. But listen really carefully - there's something new there, some sort of woodwind instrument being all mournful through the strings' agitation. Seriously, go back to the first time we heard Theme #1 (0:03) and listen - it's all strings, no sign of this new interloper. This instrument's new this time around, and it bears a somewhat tragic resemblance to the woodwinds of Theme #2. This doesn't bode well for Theme #2, does it? We end on a cadence, just like before.
5:31-5:41 Here, we're modulating Theme #1, moving toward the bridge, pretty much the same as before, with that new woodwind murmuring uneasily in the background from time to time. If we remember the Exposition (and having repeated it in its entirety, that's Mozart's intention), we're expecting a move toward that more cheerful, lyrical second theme.
5:41-6:13 But wait! The bridge is different, rolling into a key that's much more agitated and dark. Something's wrong.
6:13-6:18 This sounds familiar, at least - it's like the cadence back in the Exposition. But... go back and listen to that cadence (0:46-0:49), then listen to this one again. We're in a different key. What does this mean for Theme #2? Things are getting quiet, and that was our cue last time.
6:18-6:36 And here it is - Theme #2, but twisted into the same minor key as Theme #1. Go back and listen to it in the Exposition (0:51-1:18) - we've lost that carefree, relaxed melody in favor of something a lot darker, more mournful, and even sinister. That's how sonata-allegro form works: the second theme will always get tugged back into the key of the first theme in the Recapitulation.
6:36-6:59 Here we are working toward the Closing Section again, in our new, minor key, with those obsessive, frustrated strings dominating.
6:59-7:51 And on to the very end of the Closing Section, bringing in Theme #1 to do its victory lap - dark, obsessive, and agitated win this particular piece's battle against lyrical, quiet, and peaceful. Not every story has a happy ending.
Pretty cool, huh? I may have over-dramatized a little, but why not tell the best possible story you can with such enticing raw materials? And this is an example that follows the form pretty closely - imagine what composers can do by setting you up to expect something in sonata-allegro form, and then making some shocking twist. The first movement of Beethoven's 5th (you know it, the dah-dah-dah DAAAAAAAAH motif) has an utterly bizarre and peaceful and tragic little oboe cadenza - a solo, essentially - in the middle of the development of this massive and booming and exciting peace. Half the fun of it is how weird it is, in the midst of this carefully established formula. But that's a story for another post.
Here's the thing - the vast majority of songs you hear on the radio are going to follow a certain formula. You've got your verses ("In the town where I was born/Lived a man who sailed to sea"), your chorus ("We all live in a yellow submarine") that's the always-stuck-in-your-head bit that pops up between verses, and somewhere around the middle you'll get a bridge with different instrumentation, often in a different key (this particular example has an instrumental bridge). This is, happily, a little point of commonality with the often-arcane world of classical music. In particular, I'm going to chat a bit (using an example!) about a certain form of music, a formula like the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus form you get so often in popular music.
This formula's called sonata-allegro form, and it was incredibly popular in the late 18th and early 19th century. Folks like Mozart loved this sucker, and a whole lot of pieces from that period have sonata-allegro form written all over them.
If you can get the hang of sonata-allegro form, you've got a pretty great start when it comes to understanding the structure behind this kind of music (and you've got a better chance at staying awake in a concert hall). So if you've got the time, sit back, relax, turn up your speakers, and let me try to talk you into really listening to this particular piece of music.
Sonata-allegro form has a pretty cool general structure, and it's one that's fairly self-explanatory. The first section is called the Exposition. The second is the Development. The third is the Recapitulation. Sounds like it's telling a story, huh?
The piece I've chosen to illustrate this form is the first movement of Mozart's 40th Symphony, in part because it's a great example of the form, in part because it tells a very interesting story indeed, and in part because I love this piece so much that I think I would be okay with welding it permanently into my brain. If, y'know, that were a thing people did. Ahem. Moving right along.
Probably the best way to do this is to open a second copy of this post, so you can read at the same time as you listen/pause/jump to different parts. Or print it out, possibly. The timestamps will be bolded, and include links to the audio itself, so you can jump from place to place with a single click, but you'll still need to stop the audio at the right place.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.
Exposition
The first section, as the name suggests, is where Mozart introduces our characters, the setting, and even foreshadows the ending. There are, in fact, two "characters" in sonata-allegro form: the two main themes, which are melodies that will shape the entire piece to come.
0:03-0:26 This is our first character, Theme #1. Listen to it a couple of times, get familiar with it, shake its hand. It's a little agitated with those strings constantly rumbling away in the background, vrm-vrm-vrm-vrm, isn't it? And the higher strings keep forcing that same little motif over and over, almost obsessively. It's also in a minor key, which happens to be G minor - all this means is that the melody feels kinda sad or plaintive or angry or... not quite settled.
Between 0:21-0:26, we get what's called a Cadence, which is basically musical punctuation - it gives the sense that we've just made a statement. Okay, the music says, here's your theme, enjoy. Period.
Now, let's keep moving, through 0:26-0:51. This is still our agitated, obsessive friend, Theme #1, but modulating into a different key - it's taken on a different tone, some new instruments are breaking through those obsessive strings, and all of a sudden we're moving into what's called the Bridge, transitioning from that first theme to an introduction of a new character altogether. There are some happier notes in the bridge, though the strings keep trying to force it back to that initial, agitated state. We get a slightly more subtle cadence, and things get very quiet, and everyone takes a breath as our second character takes the stage.
0:51-1:18 Well, well, this is certainly a different beast! Theme #2 is sweet, pleasant, gentle, full of new instruments and a pastoral, lyrical quality that is wonderfully different from that initial nervous energy. There's a hint of that old darkness, but it's abolished in the cadence closing off this theme. Part of the reason for this change in mood is the key change - thanks to the bridge, we're now in B flat major, which is a much more comfortable and pleasant place to be. Major keys come across as cheerful, triumphant, peaceful, bright where minor keys are dark.
So we've set up a contrast here between Theme #1 (dark, moody, obsessive) and Theme #2 (gentle, playful, lyrical). Things are gonna get good.
1:19-1:51 This is what's known as the Closing Section, and it's grabbing material from all over the place. Our characters have met, and they're setting off on their adventure together - you can feel the music building toward something, and by now you may have a guess as to what that something might be-
1:51-1:57 Another cadence! That's quite a cadence, an exclamation point on the musical punctuation spectrum - we've introduced our two themes, they're ready to go. But wait! There's one more note after that very final-sounding cadence aaand...
1:57-3:53 Yup, you got it, we're repeating the entire Exposition from scratch, exactly as it was played before. Think of this as a great chance to get reacquainted with these two characters - see how much of the above you can identify the second time around, without looking. It's like reading a complicated mystery book and flipping back a few pages to make sure you know what's going on before people start dropping like flies. By the end of this, those two characters are pretty solid in your head. (This repeat goes in and out of style - some pieces/performances have it, some don't.)
Okay, we're back to the cadence... what now?
Development
Thank you, bold/underlined topic heading! The development. There are several different places in sonata-allegro form for genius to really shine through - those first two themes are one, of course, but the development is where the composer gets a chance to really show off. It's a loosely defined section compared to the other two, and mainly consists of letting the themes bounce off each other in new and interesting ways, morphing and shifting.
3:53-4:10 Well, this is certainly our old friend Theme #1, but it's undergoing a bit of a change, called a Sequence, where the same melody is played at different pitches, although this sucker's starting to modulate all over the place into new and exciting directions. And something's building at the end...
4:10-4:33 Things are getting passionate - Theme #1 is getting tossed around, with echoes of the instrumentation of Theme #2 popping up here and there. Can you hear the transition into a more major key, the glimmer of something triumphant, up to about 4:27? Then things start getting dark again.
4:33-4:48 We're getting quiet. The theme is at its simplest, with the strings chatting away with the other instruments, kind of like the back-and-forth repartee that defined Theme #2. (Go back and listen if you've forgotten!)
4:48-5:03 Ack! Whoa. Theme #1 did not respond well to being quieted down and shifted into gentler instrumentation. The strings are lashing out.
5:03-5:06 Another, more subdued attempt at quietness... and there's something familiar underlying it...
Recapitulation
Yup, we're into the last section. We've introduced two characters, developed a conflict, and now we're going to sum things up. The recap fits a very straightforward setup: Theme #1 is repeated, we get a bridge, we play Theme #2, and there's a closing section. But this is a story, and the most important thing about storytelling is that your characters change from start to finish. You guessed it - there's a twist coming up.
5:06-5:31 Yup, here's Theme #1 again, repeated in all its dark and minor-key glory. But listen really carefully - there's something new there, some sort of woodwind instrument being all mournful through the strings' agitation. Seriously, go back to the first time we heard Theme #1 (0:03) and listen - it's all strings, no sign of this new interloper. This instrument's new this time around, and it bears a somewhat tragic resemblance to the woodwinds of Theme #2. This doesn't bode well for Theme #2, does it? We end on a cadence, just like before.
5:31-5:41 Here, we're modulating Theme #1, moving toward the bridge, pretty much the same as before, with that new woodwind murmuring uneasily in the background from time to time. If we remember the Exposition (and having repeated it in its entirety, that's Mozart's intention), we're expecting a move toward that more cheerful, lyrical second theme.
5:41-6:13 But wait! The bridge is different, rolling into a key that's much more agitated and dark. Something's wrong.
6:13-6:18 This sounds familiar, at least - it's like the cadence back in the Exposition. But... go back and listen to that cadence (0:46-0:49), then listen to this one again. We're in a different key. What does this mean for Theme #2? Things are getting quiet, and that was our cue last time.
6:18-6:36 And here it is - Theme #2, but twisted into the same minor key as Theme #1. Go back and listen to it in the Exposition (0:51-1:18) - we've lost that carefree, relaxed melody in favor of something a lot darker, more mournful, and even sinister. That's how sonata-allegro form works: the second theme will always get tugged back into the key of the first theme in the Recapitulation.
6:36-6:59 Here we are working toward the Closing Section again, in our new, minor key, with those obsessive, frustrated strings dominating.
6:59-7:51 And on to the very end of the Closing Section, bringing in Theme #1 to do its victory lap - dark, obsessive, and agitated win this particular piece's battle against lyrical, quiet, and peaceful. Not every story has a happy ending.
Pretty cool, huh? I may have over-dramatized a little, but why not tell the best possible story you can with such enticing raw materials? And this is an example that follows the form pretty closely - imagine what composers can do by setting you up to expect something in sonata-allegro form, and then making some shocking twist. The first movement of Beethoven's 5th (you know it, the dah-dah-dah DAAAAAAAAH motif) has an utterly bizarre and peaceful and tragic little oboe cadenza - a solo, essentially - in the middle of the development of this massive and booming and exciting peace. Half the fun of it is how weird it is, in the midst of this carefully established formula. But that's a story for another post.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-21 11:06 pm (UTC)*cough* I mean, your educational posts are always a delight, and while I love your weather "lectures", it's absolutely lovely to see you turn your hand to another topic, and one even more dear to my heart.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-21 11:17 pm (UTC)Poor little Theme 2. ...But then again, maybe Theme 2 isn't the good guy in this scenario. We don't know that this is not a happy ending. Theme 2 might be the passive-aggressive reedy-voiced sycophant who needs to be brushed aside by heroic [if somewhat... brash and abrupt] Theme 1 so that 1 can accomplish her Heroic Agenda Of Hero Things. YOU NEVER KNOW.
... Or, in which Soph is now picturing Theme 1 dressed up as Kira Nerys. My brain is a place full of problems. Aiiieeee.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-21 11:43 pm (UTC)Also, you will be happy to know that I have valiantly waged war against Barbara Havers and her desire to hijack my J/S/J fic. She is apparently content with remaining a plot-important but largely unobtrusive background presence. Chalk one up for me! (Of course, she had the last word by sparking the writing fire for the entire fic, so I'd say she's won this round. *giggle*)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-22 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-23 07:31 pm (UTC)