Examining The Sonata Form Music Essay

According to Green, D. M. (1979), the term “sonata” has usually been reserved for works which are performed by one or two players. Sonatas which have more performers are usually called trios for three players, quintets for four players, and orchestra symphonies for many performers. The history of the term “sonata” is not related to the history of genre itself during the sixteenth century and before because “sonata” means a piece to be played on instruments and could denote to any type of instrumental compositions. But in genre, “sonata” is a piece consisting of several sections for one or more instruments. The author also said that in the seventeenth century, the sonata’s history was very complicated. During that time, two main classes of sonata emerged. It was usually written for two instruments such as violin with basso continuo, along with harpsichord and other instruments that can produce harmonies. The three movement and four movement types of sonata became standards in the first half of the eighteenth century after it emerged. The three movements usually consist of fast – slow – fast sections and it has been very common since the beginning of the eighteenth century. The four movements on the other hand, had two fast movements surrounding two middle movements. One of the middle movements is slow, the other will be a minuet. Then the last movement which is fast is usually the scherzo such as Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op.2 No.1)

Sonata form is a standard form and the most important type of large scale in the eighteenth century for instrumental music. According to Caplin, W.E. (1998), many historians and theorists consider it to be the period’s most highly developed and complex compositional design, the one in which composers reveal their greatest technical skill and expressive potential. He also said that the sonata form continued to influence compositional practice in later musical periods and styles until the middle of the twentieth century. The Sonata form consists of three large scale functions which are the exposition, development and recapitulation. Sometimes there are two functions which is the exposition may be preceded by an introduction in a slow tempo and the recapitulation is followed by a coda.

The Sonata – Allegro, is also known as the first movement form. According to Rosen, C. (1988), this may be one of the most complex and tightly organized series of forms because of the tendency of the late eighteenth century to put a tremendous weight in the opening movement. In the first movement form, there are two sections. The opening bars give a strict tempo, a tonic, characteristic thematic material and texture to create frames. The first part of a sonata form is called the exposition then it goes to development which indicated that the section is often devoted to the motivic development based on the themes heard in the exposition. Lastly is the term “recapitulation” which indicates the return of a number of themes rather than a single one.

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According to Rosen, C. (1988), the exposition of a sonata form is a thematic material that articulates a movement from tonic to dominant in various ways so that it takes on the character of the piece that it is composed upon. This character can be defined as a large scale dissonance which the material is played outside of the tonic key. The sonata style did not create this dissonant concept but it is the first style to make it the useful force of an entire movement. This style can be achieved by a variety of procedures. The first procedure is to have a half cadence on the dominant of the dominant with a clear break of texture which is usually seen as V of V on V. It is usually reinforce before going to the tonicization of V. A half cadence on V is followed by a new theme on the dominant which is always seen on any sonata in Mozart and Haydn.

The second procedure is a very common procedure and has always remained useful from the eighteenth century until the late of nineteenth century which is the sudden move to the dominant of the relative minor. It usually goes like V of vi to vi, V of V to V, V of V of V of V of V and V. The third procedure it about going to the dominant and remain there which is V of V and to V of V again. This make the music sounds like it has no meaning to want to move on. The fourth procedure is about the changes of texture and rhythm. It will change at the point of departure from the tonic, at the arrival of the dominant and at the confirmed cadence.

There are two significant breaks in the harmonic rhythm and there is always a pause so to mark the two events of the exposition. It always begins at the beginning of the second group and at the end of the entire section. The first section is in an animated texture and it will modulate itself. The second section which is the dominant section will also have an animated rhythm toward the end and will have a harmonic rhythm that is against the animation by starting in at a faster rhythm and ending with a stable rhythm.

The fifth procedure is that it may be useful to summarize the articulation by theme briefly and a new theme has sometimes a different character which may arrive when the modulation to the dominant key is completed. In order to articulate the movement to the dominant, the first theme might be played in a new key or a part of the theme is played more complex, moving and unstable. This method is usually used by Haydn and it requires longer and more varied modulatory sections between the opening and the dominant section. The eighth procedure is that modulation in an exposition need preparation and this is where we can see the one of the revolutionary side of the sonata style. The dominant is treated as a dissonant tonality in the exposition. The ninth procedure is about the interchange between the harmony and rhythm. It may show us something from some classical expositions such as a move away from the tonic and can be imperative if the initial cadence on the tonic has been final.

Rosen, C. (1988) said that the term “development” consists of two meanings and is also partly overlapped. The first is that it indicates both “central” section of a sonata. The second is a series of techniques of thematic transformation. The function of development is distributed over both the exposition and recapitulation part and also sometimes in the coda part too. The techniques of the thematic transformation are fragmentation, deformation, used of themes in an imitative contrapuntal texture, transposition and arrangement in a rapidly modulating sequence. There are three main places in a sonata movement where the development is most likely to occur which is the modulation to V in the exposition, second phrase of the recapitulation which often goes to the secondary development section, the development section proper and sometimes found in the coda section. The central section of a sonata form has two different functions which are development and transition. The development usually creates polarization and then delays the resolution but the transition prepares the resolution.

Rosen, C. (1988) also said that the recapitulation can be said as the most fundamental and radical innovation of the sonata style. This concept is usually found in the Baroque binary forms but for sonata it does not occurs because the sonata does not like binary forms. It sometimes repeats all or parts of the exposition which are transposed into tonic. In the sonata, there is a reinterpretation of the pattern of the exposition and a transformation of articulated movement away from stability into an affirmation of a stable area. This section always exhibits a great variety of forms as the exposition and the development. The form of recapitulation is always determined by the development section as by the exposition on which everything begins from there which is their base. The more dramatic tension is build up by the development section, the more elaborate the measures are taken in the recapitulation section to ease and solve the dramatic tension. The recapitulation can continue the thematic development while it is resolving the harmonic tension.

2.2 Introduction of the First Movement

The first movement, Grave then allegro con brio begins in C minor. The time signature is in 4/4 time. This movement reveals his characteristics such as manly, earnest, painful and passionate. According to Elterlein, E. V. (1920), at the beginning of the first movement, it seemed restraint but sometimes fire breaks out here and there. After that the fire will immediately ease out. But just as the allegro con brio comes in, the fire breaks out again and this time it explodes and became even stronger in E flat minor. Then in D flat major, a soft, soothing voice pleading the storm to retrain itself.

After a moment’s pause which the passage is marked grave; the storm begins to break out and with increased intensity in E minor. Then it became calmer after it modulates to F minor and C minor. A third grave appears and then a last short outburst, followed by a great calmness. The grave which is repeated three times in the first movement is special and it is not written repeatedly by the composer for no reason because the composer might have his own reasons for repeating them and is also to remind us of the introduction to the work. This movement gives the impression that the composer has very strong determination.

2.3 An analysis of the First Movement

The passage which is marked grave starts in bar 1 to 10. Then it repeats again in bars 133 until 136. It repeats the third and final time in bars 295 until 298. The difference of the passage is that it starts at a different key but it still plays the same rhythmic pattern. The beginning of the piece is the exposition from bars 1 until 26 because in bar 27 the key of c minor has modulated to the dominant key which is G major. The development starts to build up after modulating from c minor to G major. In the development section, there are modulations which are from G major to Eb minor and then it goes back to G major from bars 27 till 130, including first and second house. After that the piece goes back to the grave passage in the key of G major and then modulates to E major in bar 137. Later it modulates to D major in bar 142 then to G minor in bar 147. It returns back to G major in bars 167 till 186. Before going to recapitulation part, the piece returns to C minor in bars 195 till 220. The recapitulation part is from bars 221 until the end. It is in the key of f minor from bars 221 until 252 before modulating to c minor from bars 253 till 268. Then it modulates back to f minor from bars 254 till 298. The grave passage appears again for the third and last time from bars 295 till 298. The theme in c minor after the grave passage is repeated for the final time as the first movements ending from bars 299 until 309.

The piece started in grave tempo in bar 1, it started in fortepiano (fp) which means it is played loud, then immediately soft and it lasted for 3 bars. The sforzando (sf) which means it is played with accent on the first beat of bar 4 then gradually moved to piano (p) which means soft on the second beat in bar 4. There is a crescendo (cresc.) to make it gradually go back to sforzando. In bar 5, it is played in piano (p) then suddenly in fortissimo (ff) which means very loud. In bar 6, it returned back to piano (p) and is played softly until bar 8 where a crescendo emerges. Then a sforzando and immediate piano (p) is played until the ending of the grave theme in bar 10. Then it goes into the Allegro di molto e con brio tempo meaning it is played in the quick and very animated tempo. In bar 11, the dynamic is in piano (p) then there is a crescendo starting from bars 15 – 18 and went back to playing softly in bars 19 – 22. The crescendo emerges again in bars 23 – 26 and went back soft in bar 27 but the melody on the right hand are reinforced especially on the octaves which are played in bar 27, 28, 31 and 32. The crescendo emerges again in bar 35. In bars 38, 42, 45 – 48, some of the notes are being accented and goes back to playing softly in bars 49 – 84. There is a decrescendo in bar 85 because it gets gradually softer to prepare the bar which needs to be played in pianissimo (pp) in bar 88 only and then it returns back to piano on the following bar which is bar 89. There is a crescendo from bars 93 – 98 so that it is played gradually getting louder towards forte (f) which means loud from bars 99 – 100. Then immediately became soft again from bars 101 – 104 and the crescendo emerges again to go to forte in bars 111 – 112 and again it immediately became soft again in bars 113 – 116. The crescendo emerges again and gradually gets louder to forte in bars 121 – 131. Finally, it ended with fortissimo in bar 132 before beginning on the second grave theme.

The second grave theme began in fortepiano (fp) and ended it pianissimo in bar 136. Allegro molto e con brio tempo is played again for the second time. It begins softly then crescendo in bar 137 and it gradually goes loud in bar 139 then goes back soft in bar 140. The crescendo is again appearing in bar 143 and gradually becomes louder again in bar 145 then goes back soft in bar 146. Starting from bar 163, it is played softly until bar 167 which it is being played even more softly because it is written pianissimo (pp). It was played in pianissimo until bar 186 which sometimes in between those bars there are crescendos and sforzandos which are written on the score. In bar 187, the fortepiano (fp) returns for a while and gradually becomes softer to piano. Starting from bars 195 – 284, it is played softly but in between there are a few crescendos and sforzandos. There is also forte in bars 263 – 264. Forte (f) is played from bars 285 onwards until it reach fortissimo (ff) in bars 293 – 294. The final grave theme comes in and it is played softly instead of fortepiano (fp). It gradually became louder then gradually became softer to pianissimo (pp). The first movement ended with fortissimo (ff) which it ended with a very loud ending.

The pedal points which are found in the score are mostly consists of the tonic pedal and the dominant pedal. The tonic pedal in c minor is played from bar 11 until bar 15, bar 195 until 199, bar 203 until 207, bar 253 until 254, bar 265 until 266, bar 281, bar 285 until 289 and also from bar 299 until 303. The dominant of c minor are from bar 17 until 18, bar 25 until 27, bar 280, bar 284 and in bar 292. The dominant pedal of e flat minor is from bar 35 until 62, bar 76 until 78, bar 84 and bar 87 until 88. The dominant pedal of A flat major is from bar 89 until 90, bar 101 until 102, bar 117 and bar 121 until 125. The tonic pedals are bar 115, bar 119 and bar 129. The dominant pedal of D major is from bar 141 until 142 and the tonic pedal is from bar 143 until 145. The dominant pedal of f minor is from bar 221 until 230 and bar 245. In bar 246, there is only the tonic pedal.

There are suspensions in the first movement. From bars 25 until 26, there is a 4 – 3 suspension in G major. From bars 46 until 47 and bars 48 until 49, there is a 4 – 3 suspension in those bars in e flat minor. There is a 7 – 6 suspension in E major in bar 141. There is a 6 – 5 suspension from bars 173 until 174, bars 181 until 182, bars 183 until 184 and bars 185 until 186 in G major. There is a 4 – 3 and 6 – 5 suspension in bars 201 until 202 in c minor.

2.3.1 This is a table of the analysis of the first movement.

The Graves theme that appear in the first movement of the piano sonata.

The modulations which are found in the first movement of this piano sonata.

Bars 1 – 10

Begins in the key of c minor.

Bars 11 – 26

The key still remains in c minor.

Bars 27 – 50

The key is modulated to G major in bar 27 and remains in that key until bar 50.

Bars 51 – 92

The key is modulated to e flat minor in bar 51 and remains in that key until bar 92.

Bars 93 – 132

The key is modulated to A flat major in bar 93 and remains in that key until bar 132.

Bars 133 – 136

The key is modulated to G major in bar 133 and remains in G major for 4 bars.

Bars 137 – 141

The key is modulated to E major in bar 137 and remain in E major for a short while.

Bars 142 – 146

The key is modulated to D major in bar 142 and remain in D major for a few bars.

Bars 147 – 166

The key is modulated to g minor in bar 147 and lasted in the same key until bar 166.

Bars 167 – 194

The key is modulated in G major in bar 167 and remain in the same key until bar 194.

Bars 195 – 220

The key is modulated back to c minor in bar 195 and remain at the same key for 5 bars.

Bars 221 – 258

The key is modulated to f minor in bar 221 and it remains in the same key until bar 258.

Bars 259 – 268

The key is again modulated back to c minor in bar 259 and remain in c minor until bar 268.

Bars 269 – 284

The key is modulated to f minor in bar 269 and remain in f minor until bar 284.

Bars 285 – 310(ending of first movement).

It goes back to c minor in bar 285 and ends perfectly in the tonic chord in bar 309. Bar 310 are a long pause and a semibreve.

The dynamic markings which are written on the first movement of this piano sonata by

the composer.

Bar 1 – 3

Fortepiano(fp) is on the first beat of every bar.

Bar 3

A sudden sforzando (sf) on the third beat of the bar.

Bar 4

On the first beat issfthen gradually getting softer to piano(p) on the second beat of the bar. There is a crescendo(cresc.) then a sfon the last beat of the bar.

Bar 5 &6

On the first beat is pand the third beat is played in fortissimo(ff).

Bar 7

This bar is played in p.

Bar 8

A crescendois written in this bar to prepare for the sf in the next bar.

Bar 9

Sf is played on the first beat and is immediately soft to p.

Bar 10

It is played in p. On the last beat and a half, it is played in sf with a pause sign.

Bars 11 – 14

Is played in p.

Bars 15 – 18

A crescendois written and so it is played gradually getting louder.

Bars 19 – 22

It is played in p.

Bars 23 – 26

A crescendois played.

Bar 27

It is played in p. On the third beat of the bar, there is rforzando(rf).

Bar 28

There is rfon the third beat of the bar.

Bars 31 – 32

There is sfon both bars on the third beat.

Bars 33 – 34

They are played in p.

Bars 35 – 37

A crescendois played.

Bar 38 &42

There is sfon the first beat of both bars.

Bars 39 – 41 &Bars 43 – 44

They are played in p.

Bars 45 – 48

The sfdynamic are played on the third beat in every bar.

Bars 49 – 87

They are played in p.

Bars 53 – 54, bars 61 – 62 &bars 69 – 70

The sfis played on the first beat of every bar which is mentioned while still maintaining pfrom bars 49 – 87.

Bar 79

There is rfon the second beat of the bar.

Bars 85 – 87

There is a decrescendoto prepare for bar 88.

Bar 88

It is played in pianissimo(pp).

Bars 89 – 92

It is played in p.

Bars 93 – 98

A crescendois played to build up the tension for the next bar.

Bars 99 – 100

It is played in forte(f).

Bars 101 – 104

It is played in p.

Bars 105 – 110

A crescendois played to build up the tension for the next bar.

Bars 111 – 112

It is played in f.

Bars 113 – 116

It is played in p.

Bars 117 – 120

A crescendois played to build up the tension for the next bar.

Bars 121 – 131

It is played in f.

Bar 132

This bar is played in fortissimo(ff).

Bars 133 – 135

Fpis played on every bar but in bar 135 it is played in pon the third beat.

Bar 136

There is a decrescendoon the first beat and ends with ppon the last beat of the bar.

Bar 137

The first beat is played in pand then a crescendois started on the third beat of the bar.

Bar 139

It is played in f.

Bars 140 – 142

It is played in p.

Bars 143 – 144

A crescendo is played.

Bar 145

It is played in f.

Bars 146 – 148

It is played in pimmediately in bar 146.

Bars 149 – 162

A crescendois played.

Bars 163 – 166

It is played in p.

Bars 167 – 170

It is played in pp.

Bars 171 – 174

A crescendois played.

Bars 175 – 178

It is played in pp.

Bars 179 – 186

A crescendois played.

Bar 181, 183 &185

The sfis on the third beat of these bars.

Bar 187

The first beat is played fp.

Bars 188 – 198

It is played in pbut on the second beat of bar 198 the sf is played.

Bars 199 – 202

A crescendois played.

Bars 203 – 206

It is played in p but in bar 205, there is sfon the third beat.

Bars 207 – 218

Crescendosare played from bars 207 until 210. Pis played on the first beat of bar 211 and then on the third beat a crescendois played. The same goes in bar 215.

Bars 219 – 250

Pis played but in bar 223, 224, 231, 232,239 and 240 have sfon the first beat. There is a decrescendoin bar 245 and it gradually gets softer until it reaches bar 250.

Bars 251 – 252

It is played in pp.

Bars 253 – 256

It is played in p.

Bars 257 – 262

A crescendois played.

Bars 263 – 264

It is played in f.

Bars 265 – 268

It is played in p.

Bars 269 – 274

A crescendois played.

Bars 275 – 276

It is played in f.

Bars 277 – 280

It is played in p.

Bars 281 – 284

A crescendois played.

Bars 285 – 292

It is played in f.

Bars 293 – 294

It is played in ff.

Bars 295 – 296

It is played in p.

Bars 297

The crescendostarts on the second beat. On the third beat, there is sfand it gradually gets softer.

Bars 298

Decrescendois played and the third beat is played in pp.

Bars 299 – 302

It is played in p.

Bars 303 – 304

A crescendois played.

Bars 305 – 310(end of first movement)

It is played in ff.

The pedal points which are in the first movement.

C minor

Tonic pedal

Bars 11 – 15, bars 19 – 23, bars 195 – 199, bars 203 – 207, bars 253 – 254, bars 265 – 266, bar 281, bars 285 – 289 and bars 299 – 303.

Dominant pedal

Bars 17 – 18, bars 25 – 27, bar 280, bar 284 and bar 292.

E flat minor

Dominant pedal

Bars 35 – 62, bars 76 – 78, bar 84 and bars 87 – 88.

A flat major

Dominant pedal

Bars 89 – 90, bars 101 – 102, bar 117 and bars 121 – 125.

Tonic pedal

Bar 115, bar 119 and bar 129.

D major

Dominant pedal

Bars 141 – 142.

Tonic pedal

Bars 143 – 145.

F minor

Dominant pedal

Bars 221 – 230 and bar 245.

Tonic pedal

Bar 246.

Suspensions which are found in the first movement

Key

Suspension

Bar

C minor

4 – 3

Bars 26 – 27

E flat minor

4 – 3

Bars 46 – 47

E flat minor

4 – 3

Bars 48 – 49

E major

7 – 6

Bar 141

G major

6 – 5

Bars 173 – 174

G major

6 – 5

Bars 181 – 182

G major

6 – 5

Bars 183 – 184

G major

6 – 5

Bars 185 – 186

C minor

4 – 3 and 6 – 5

Bars 201 – 202

2.4 An Analysis of scores edition

According to Badura-Skoda, E. (1994), sometimes a serious musician feels agitated about a previously trusted edition. For example, the musician is disturbed by an articulation mark or by a piano sign in a passage that he or she thinks should be played in loudly. After looking at other editions, the author discovered that printed editions of the same work often contradict each other. There are some editions which proudly labeled themselves as “Ur-text” but some might not be favoured by the musicians. The term “Ur-text” also means original or authenticity. The author said that a good “Ur-text” edition always states which markings are the composer’s and which are editorial additions by printing them in italic or parentheses and further explanations are written in footnotes. There should be a preface to inform the musician about the editor’s addition.

The Beethoven’s piano sonata in c minor, op.13 “Pathetique” first movement piano score that will be used are the ABRSM version and the G. Henle Verlag’s Urtext version. They will be compared to which edition is the best to be used by everyone who is interested in playing this piece.

G.Henle Verlag’s Urtext Version

ABRSM Version

This movement consists of 8 pages. For example, see Appendix I.

This movement consists of 10 pages. For example, see Appendix II.

The title is written in German. For example, view Example 1.0.

The title is written in English. For example, view Example 1.1.

The score also includes the year that it was composed. For example, see Example 1.0.

The score in this version did not include the year that it was composed by the composer. For example, see Example 1.1.

The score is not altered by the editor. For example, see Example 1.2. It is bar 1 of the first movement.

The score is a bit altered by the editor. For example, see Example 1.3. It is bar 1 of the first movement.

The arrangement of the melody and chords are the same as what the composer had written. For example, see Example 1.2. It is bar 1 of the first movement.

The arrangement of the melody and chords are slightly altered especially in page 1 (Gravepart). For example, see Example 1.3. It is bar 1 of the first movement.

There are no pedal markings. For example, see Example 1.4.

There are pedal markings written on the score by the editor. For example, see Example 1.5.

There are no staccatissimo in the score. For example see Example 1.6.

There are staccatissimo in some bars. For example, see Example 1.7.

The fingering markings are written as followed by the composer. For example, see Example 1.8. This is in bar 10.

The fingering are slightly different than what was written by the composer because that is the editors fingering after deciding that the fingering the editor used is easier to be played than the composer’s given fingering. For example, see Example 1.9. This is in bar 10.

Example 1.0

Example 1.1

Example 1.2

Example 1.3

Example 1.4

Example 1.5

Example 1.6

Example 1.7

Example 1.8

Example 1.9

After comparing and analyzing both versions, there are pros and cons in using either one of the versions of this first movement from this piano sonata. It seems that the ABRSM version is a better version to be used in the 21st century for any musicians who wished to play this piano sonata. The Urtext version of the piano sonata consists of eight pages of the first movement but the ABRSM version of the piano sonata has ten pages of the first movement. The ABRSM version has the piano sonata name written in English but for the Urtext version, it is written in german. The Urtext version and the ABRSM version also includes what the composer had been written on the score which is Beethoven dedicated this piano sonata to Prince Lichnowsky. Only the Urtext version included which year it was composed although they were all written in German. On the other hand, the ABRSM version of this piano sonata, this version did not include when the piano sonata was composed although it was written in English.

The Urtext version of the first movement does not have pedal markings on the score but the ABRSM have meaning that the editor has added his own opinion on how the first movement should be played. The Urtext version of the first movement does not have pedal markings and is maybe because it follows what the composer had written. There is also a possibility that the editor wants the pianist to apply the pedal on the chord or bar which is suitable to the pianist own technique of playing the piano for that piano sonatas first movement. In the G.Henle’s Urtext version of the first movement of this piano sonata, the score is still the same as what the composer, Beethoven had written. The editor of this book did not want to change anything on what the composer had written because he wanted to preserve the originality of the score. But, in the ABRSM book, the editor had slightly altered the originality of the score because the editor tried to make it easier and understandable for the pianist who wants to play the composers pieces. For example, the arrangements in bar 1 of the first movement, in the Urtext version of this first movement, the c minor chords are all written in the bass line with only the middle c on the treble clef line but in the ABRSM version they appear different. The ABRSM version has both lines with chords. Another example is that the Urtext version does not have staccatissimo on their scores. They have only staccatos written on the scores but in ABRSM it is slightly different. Some of the notes in the ABRSM version are played in staccatissimo which is written by the editor of the ABRSM edition. The staccatissimo is written on the score by the editor and is most possibly the editor’s suggestion on whether to play it in staccatissimo rather than in staccato. On the other hand, the Urtext version is only written in staccato and it might be possible that the editor wants the pianist who is playing this piano sonata’s first movement to play it with their own preferred technique, creativity or just want them to follow what was originally written on the score. The fingering on the first movement is slightly different after comparing both versions. The Urtext version follows according to what the composer had written but the ABRSM version of fingerings for this first movement is according to the editors fingering. It might be even easier for some pianist to follow his fingering. The finger markings which are on both versions can be used but it also depends on the pianist on which is most suitable for him or her to use while playing the first movement of the piano sonata.

Some pianist will prefer the Urtext version because it is tidier, lesser pages and lesser markings. It might be possible that they prefer it too because it is almost like the original version of the piano sonata that was written by Beethoven and the pianist have more freedom in applying other playing techniques on the first movement while playing it without getting distracted by the markings on the score. But, some pianist would prefer the ABRSM version because it might be possible that they must follow what the