Lesson with djsell

In this lesson we'll be examining rondo, sonata, and concerto form.

Rondo form was very popular in the classical period and even into early romanticism (one of Chopin's very earliest published pieces was a rondo) which has left behind a lot of memorable and familiar pieces; Mozart's Rondo alla Turca or the third movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, to name a couple (note that both of these rondos are the last movements of their respective sonatas; the rondo form was a popular 'finale' movement).

The form itself is simple to grasp. In rondo form, there is a recurring 'A' section in-between which new material is constantly introduced; ABACADA... and so on. The length and complexity is entirely at the discretion of the composer, though for the sake of keeping momentum the A section is not always given a full recapitulation between sections (again, your choice).

As an exercise perhaps it would be valuable to compose a short rondo yourself but if you'd like to go straight on to sonata form without distractions then that's fine too.

I've decided to write a short rondo, which I hope to be done with soon (I've already got the "A" section down, and I decided it will be in only five parts).

Sounds good, I'll give any insight if necessary but after that we'll go straight to sonata form. :D

Finished and ready to go on!

MP3 file here.

MIDI and PDF of score in attachments.

Lovely! I love D minor. :( In fact that piece could even be an ABACDA with that moment at M37, very nice addition (form as you can imagine can be ambiguous; what the composer intends is not always what another might interpret). Also just one thing to note, rondo form doesn't necessarily mandate that one ignores the sections around the A once they're done with. As in Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, that material could very well show up again; what's most important about rondo is the constantly returning A theme.

So now we're on to sonata form, which I'll provide first in the strictest sense (hence the use of 'must') and then there are two examples with slight variations that I think it'd be valuable to discuss.

Sonata form has three main components; an exposition, a development, and the recapitulation of themes from the exposition. This can be sort of seen as [AB]C[AB].

Exposition:

If the A theme is in major, the B theme must arrive in the dominant (the relative minor is another possibility). If the A theme is in minor, the B theme must be in the relative major. The A and B sections are also often repeated before moving on.

Development:

The development is probably the most interesting part of sonata form. In the development, one moves through keys at a rapid pace. There are two ways to end the development in major; arriving at the dominant of the tonic, or the dominant of the relative minor. Sometimes, composers didn't even bother to go from the dominant of the relative minor back to the major, so the development would literally resolve from a relative minor dominant to the major tonic. Thematically, the development is the free-est part of sonata form; typically, material is drawn from the A and B themes/sections and sort of hashed together in an inconclusive and constantly changing manner that's just running through keys until we arrive at the recapitulation.

Recapitulation:

A literal copy of the exposition is a possibility but not mandatory. As you did in the last appearance of the "A" section in the rondo, you can always vary the sound. However, the B theme is now moved from anywhere else (dominant, relative major...) to the same tonic as A (in the case of bringing relative major to the tonic of a minor key, the relative is changed to parallel).

There are two things one can add to sonata form; an introduction or coda. The material can even be completely irrelevant to the rest of the sonata, but sometimes you might feel like a sonata needs more closure or simpler a better introduction and for that very purpose these two additions exist.

With that aside, I'd like to examine Brahms's G minor Rhapsody op. 79 (PDF) and the first movement of Beethoven's sonata op. 10 no. 2 (PDF) for some ideas on how composers have varied the strict form as described above.

The Rhapsody in G minor is not without reason one of Brahms's most popular compositions for piano (along with the other Rhapsody of the same opus). The A section lasts 13 measures, a very short time, before the B section is introduced. Notice, however, that the B theme (in a funny take on sonata form) is in the dominant minor. Now a very long development begins with lots of familiar characters. No need to look at it too in depth but notice how he messes with the first A theme and the second B theme a lot. Finally, some time later (I wish I had measure numbers: first measure, third system, page 7), the development lands on the dominant of G minor and we're back. This time, though, the B section begins (as prescribed) with G remaining as the tonic.

Next we have the first movement of the Beethoven sonata no. 6 in F major. This piece, by and large, acts as we might expect in a sonata. We begin in F major, flirt with C major, some typical Beethoven-esque surprises, a repeat, stuff in D minor and a development* section. Here's the funny part though; the development ends with a half cadence on the dominant of D minor. To your period audience, this is nothing unexpected, as I mentioned earlier it was very likely that composers might just end on this dominant and go straight back into the A section in its original key. The surprise here is that Beethoven actually resolves it (shocking, I know) but to a theme from the A section. For only 19 measures, we're suddenly in D major with the theme that the piece began with in F major. At the end of that 19 measures, though, we're back in F major and we get the full-fledged recapitulation, and the sonata ends as expected.

* the development starts arguably at either M67, making the B section the C major section beginning at M19, or the development starts at M99, making the B section start at M67 since the D minor is given so much emphasis. For the sake of the recapitulation though, I'm inclined to believe the former as it simply aligns more with the structure of sonata form (the D minor material never returns at the end and plus, by this view the entire exposition is repeated as one might expect).

Sorry I know this is a really long lesson with those examples and analysis but again I think it's really valuable when learning sonata form to learn both the rules and all the funky stuff composers have done with the it, and the flexibility one has to mess around with its structure. Concerto form is heavily derived from sonata form so that'll be a breeze once this is all understood.

I love D Minor too. It's like, my favorite key right now. :o

The lesson wasn't too long. :) I already knew a lot about regular sonata form, but I did learn some things. I think I'm ready to move on.

Concerto form as I mentioned is largely based on sonata form but there are key differences.

Exposition:

Concerto form begins with a double exposition. First the orchestra plays and introduces the A and B themes, and at the end the soloist comes in and once again we hear A and B. Though the soloist generally carries the themes, that does not exclude the orchestra from accompanying or assisting.

Development:

The development works largely the same as it might in sonata form, moving rapidly through keys and messing around with previously introduced melodic material.

Recapitulation:

The recapitulation is not doubled as the exposition and acts as it might in sonata form, with the B theme returning in the tonic. At the end of the recapitulation, the soloist is given a cadenza. Originally these were designed to show off both the soloist's virtuosity and his improvisational talent. Beethoven and many composers thereafter, however, began actually writing down cadenzas (for both their own works and those of previous composers like Mozart) that are most commonly used today. A cadenza typically incorporates the A and B themes into a very dashing, virtuosic impromptu of sorts. What happens in the cadenza, which is unaccompanied, is entirely up to the soloist. At the end, however, the soloist must arrive at the dominant playing a trill on the supertonic (second note of the scale) and make eye contact with the conductor, and then together they resolve into the coda

Coda:

Codas are practically essential to fully round out a piece in concerto form given that the soloist had just had an entire cadenza to himself.

And that's all there is to it, feel free to ask any questions. :D

I was kind of thinking it'd be more in-depth. Therefore, I do have some questions:

1) I thought the cadenza was after the recapitulation. Can it be in either spot?

2) In the solo exposition, is it supposed to be the same as the opening ritornello just with the soloist, or is it expanded upon?

3) The opening orchestral ritornello follows the tonic-dominant relationship, right? Or does it stay in tonic? If not, do I have the orchestra modulate to tonic before the solo exposition (or use an introduction for the soloist--or just go ahead and do both? :happy:)?

I think that's all the questions I have.

Thanks for the lesson!

I misspoke, you're absolutely right about the cadenza being at the end of the recapitulation. Really, though, the cadenza can go wherever you see fit or nowhere at all.

In the double exposition the soloist doesn't have to repeat exactly what the orchestra did, there can be variation and even new material if you see fit (with the opportunity to have a soloist and accompaniment, a lot of variation in the way of new counter-melodies and effects can be used).

As for the orchestral exposition, the best way to look at it is probably as a part-introduction and part-exposition. If it feels too schizophrenic to jump to the dominant and back in time for the solo exposition no one would kill you if it all happened in the tonic. Heck, you could even do the entire orchestral exposition in the dominant and only go to the tonic for the soloist (that'd actually be kinda cool). :o I would say that personally, I'd find a second introduction for the soloist to be a bit redundant but follow your ear and see what works best in the way of details.

The concerto form has been messed with so much it's hard to say specifically what one must or mustn't do. In such an event, I maintain, always follow the ear. :happy:

Okay! Thanks for the answers! It helps. :happy:

Hm, I think this lesson is pretty much concluded, been a pleasure djsell! Enjoy the possibilities. :(