Sonata Theory Handbook

"A Sonata Theory Handbook is a step-by-step, seminar-like introduction to Sonata Theory, a new approach to the study and interpretation of sonata form. The book updates and advances the outline of the method first presented in Hepokoski and Darcy's 2006 Elements of Sonata Theory. It blends explanations of the theory's general principles-dialogic form, expositional action zones, trajectories toward generically normative cadences, rotation theory, the five sonata types, the special case of the minor-mode sonata, and more-with illustrations of them in practice through close, extended analyses of eight individual movements by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. Central to the method is the merging of historically informed, technical analysis withthe concerns of hermeneutic interpretation. The book features an inclusive engagement with recent developments in form theory, schema theory, and other related studies since 2006, including some of the language and insights of cognitive research into music perception and the more generalized concerns of conceptual metaphor theory. It ultimately builds to reflections on sonata form in the romantic era: the flexible applicability of Sonata Theory to mid- and late-nineteenth-century works"--

Sonata form is the most commonly encountered organizational plan in the works of the classical-music masters, from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to Schubert, Brahms, and beyond. Sonata Theory, an analytic approach developed by James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy in their award-winning Elements of Sonata Theory (2006), has emerged as one of the most influential frameworks for understanding this musical structure. What can this method from "the new Formenlehre" teach us about how these composers put together their most iconic pieces and to what expressive ends?In this new Sonata Theory Handbook, Hepokoski introduces readers step-by-step to the main ideas of this approach. At the heart of the book are close readings of eight individual movements from Mozart's Piano Sonata in B-flat, K. 333, to such structurally complex pieces as Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" String Quartet and the finale of Brahms's Symphony No 1 that show this analytical method in action. These illustrative analyses are supplemented with four updated discussions of the foundational concepts behind the theory, including dialogic form, expositional action zones, trajectories toward generically normative cadences, rotation theory, and the five sonata types. With its detailed examples and deep engagements with recent developments in form theory, schema theory, and cognitive research, this handbook updates and advances Sonata Theory and confirms its status as a key lens for analyzing sonata form.