Sonata Form in Five Sonatas
The sonata as we have known it since the Classical period involves two separate but intertwined ideas, and my five sonatas (four piano sonatas and one sonata for oboe and piano) interpret them in various ways.
Traditionally, a typical sonata has 3-4 movements. In a three-movement sonata, the movements are usually arranged as fast/slow/fast. In a four-movement sonata, a dance or scherzo movement is inserted, usually after the slow movement, or occasionally before it.
The term “sonata form,” however, refers to the first movement alone (although sonata form can also be used in any of the other individual movements). Because the first movement typically has an allegro tempo marking or something similar, this form is also sometimes referred to as “sonata-allegro form.” Thematically, it consists of an Exposition where the materials are presented, a Development where they are elaborated, and a Recapitulation where they are presented anew. Tonally, a polarity between tonic and dominant is established in the Exposition and ultimately resolved in the Recapitulation. Of course, departures from this model are common.
To the Romanticist, both sonata form and the multi-movement format suggest elements of drama. Sonata form suggests a dramatic narrative of departure and return, while a multi-movement format presents obvious opportunities for dramatic contrasts.
My first piano sonata (1982) and my Sonata for Oboe and Piano (1990) are both traditional multi-movement works. The Piano Sonata No. 1, which was my first significant composition, has four movements, with the scherzo preceding the slow movement, and with motivic connections among the movements to bring unity to the work. The opening theme of the first movement uses a tonic triad embellished by the chromatic lower neighbors to each of its three tones, and this idea applies in one way or another to the themes in the other movements. In addition, there are direct links among the movements, as described in this blog article.
But Piano Sonata No. 2 (1984) takes a radically different approach to the genre. Somewhat like Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, it is a single movement in sonata form, where all the thematic material is interconnected, but with contrasting sections suggesting incipient multiple movements. That approach was successful enough that I applied it again in Piano Sonata No. 4 (1992).
Piano Sonata No. 3 (1987, revised 2016) combines the two ideas described above in a novel way. It has three movements in fast/slow/fast format, but the work as a whole is in sonata form — meaning that the Recapitulation does not arrive until midway through the last movement. The tonal structure also extends across all three movements, with the return to tonic coming midway through the third movement.
Over the last few years, I have brought out recordings of all five of these sonatas:
Piano Sonata No. 1: