What the F*** is Sonata-Allegro Form ??? ...
From: ...
http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/sonata.htmlSonata-Allegro Form
This is the form used in the first movement (and sometimes in other movements) of all 18th and 19th century symphonies. The sections run together, but it's usually possible to tell where one ends and the next begins.
Introduction
Slow and stately, in a different tempo than the rest of the movement. The Introduction is optional. Beethoven's 4th has a long Introduction, but the Introduction in his 3rd is only two chords, and his 5th has no Introduction at all.
Exposition
As in "expository". The Exposition sets forth the themes. There are usually:
The first theme. Usually grand and memorable.
The second theme. A contrast to the first theme: if the first theme is grand, the second will often be slower and lyrical. It is usually in a different key.
Much other material, including other themes, may appear between and after the themes. A closing section is called a Codetta.
In Haydn, Mozart, and early Beethoven, the entire Exposition is often repeated verbatim, to nail the themes down in your mind. (They didn't have phonograph records in those days.) The decision on whether to play the repeat is customarily up to the conductor: some do, some don't.
Development
Here one or more of the themes from the Exposition are played around with and mutated. They may be played on different instruments, made faster or slower, louder or softer. They are almost always played in different keys, and chopped up into little pieces and tossed around the orchestra, often in insistent repetitions of the same tiny phrase or motive. The themes may even be played upside down (e.g. rising instead of falling notes) or backwards, in which case they're usually unrecognizable to the average listener. The Development is usually tense and dramatic.
The Development ends with the Retransition, a particularly tense and expectant moment which leads into the ...Recapitulation
Essentially a repeat of the Exposition, but with some changes. In later 19th century symphonies the Recaptulation can be very different, with themes omitted and new ones added.
Usually more confident in style than the Exposition, which often has an air of searching or questing.
Coda
The tailpiece. Optional, but usually present. Not as long or insistent as the one at the end of the Finale. Sometimes takes the form of a second Development.
-snip-
The Sonata-Allegro form is STILL present in music ....
> intro | exposition | development | recapitulation | coda ....
becomes
Modern Song Form:
>intro | verse/chorus | solo | verse/chorus | end
Honest ....
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