Sonata Form
Exposition, development, recapitulation — the Classical era's large-scale frame
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Sonata form is the large-scale frame most used in Classical movements: exposition (main and secondary themes, usually on tonic and dominant), development (material taken apart, modulating, building tension), recapitulation (themes return, the secondary theme now on the tonic). It works like a narrative: pose a question, leave, come back with the answer.
It is not a template to be followed literally: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven each vary it, the nineteenth century stretches and deforms it, the twentieth takes it apart. To decide whether music is in sonata form, listen for the tonal departure and return, not for three labels.
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Sources
- 奏鸣曲式的三段结构与历史用法，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Sonata form"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.