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Charles Rosen says of sonata form: "[It] is not a definite form like a minuet, a da capo aria, or a French overture; it is, like the fugue, a way of writing, a feeling for proportion, direction, and texture rather than a pattern."
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ANYONE WHO PICKS up a book on sonata form very likely thinks he already knows what it is; and he is probably right. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
ANYONE WHO PICKS up a book on sonata form very likely thinks he already knows what it is; and he is probably right. Read the first page
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8 reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Typically valuable Rosen, despite structural problems
6 Mar 2005
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Rosen's book, now in a revised edition, is a follow-up to his classic "Classical Style," and it helps to be acquainted with the earlier work, or at least to be somewhat accustomed to the author's elaborate and occasionally repetitive prose and his habit of illustrating the discussion with copious, lengthy musical examples. The early chapters explain the author's choice of the plural for the title and distinguish his view of the sonata structure as opposed to the single form dictated by nineteenth-century authorities such as Czerny. Particularly interesting, if not altogether coherent, is the attempt to relate the rise of use of sonata principles by composers to the rise in prestige of instrumental music. A couple of chapters on sonata-form predecessors (aria, concerto, other works by early Italians such as Scarlatti and Sammartini) are succeeded by generally lucid discussions on motivic development and the component parts of fully developed sonata form: exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda. The last part of the book examines how sonata structure has continued to influence and at times frustrate post-Classical composers.
If one looks for it, there are brilliant analyses to be found throughout this book, often in unexpected places: a full-scale and fascinating dissection of the first movement of Mozart's great "Prague" Symphony in D major is hidden away in the middle of the "Motif and Function" chapter. Therein lies the major problem of this book for me, in that Rosen, ironically enough in a work about form, seems to have trouble ordering and presenting his ideas in a logical fashion. The chapter on concertos seems intended to illustrate pre-sonata principles, but contradicts its purpose with illustrations mainly from Mozart and his contemporaries. Elsewhere, Rosen first cites minuet form as a sonata-form predecessor but then clouds the issue by discussing classical minuets in a later chapter--the casual reader may miss the distinction, which he never states explicitly. In fact, some important overall points--that the turn toward the subdominant in many recapitulations is intended to balance the basic tonic-dominant polarity of the exposition, for example--are never stated by Rosen but left to be gleaned by the reader. He also fails to spend enough time, in my opinion, discussing the ways in which minor-key sonata movements differ from the prevalent major-key models. Still, with careful reading, following some of the examples with recordings, and perhaps a bit of reordering, a comprehensive picture does emerge of one of the most important currents in Western tonal music. I still have to recommend this book as the best available on this knotty subject.
If one looks for it, there are brilliant analyses to be found throughout this book, often in unexpected places: a full-scale and fascinating dissection of the first movement of Mozart's great "Prague" Symphony in D major is hidden away in the middle of the "Motif and Function" chapter. Therein lies the major problem of this book for me, in that Rosen, ironically enough in a work about form, seems to have trouble ordering and presenting his ideas in a logical fashion. The chapter on concertos seems intended to illustrate pre-sonata principles, but contradicts its purpose with illustrations mainly from Mozart and his contemporaries. Elsewhere, Rosen first cites minuet form as a sonata-form predecessor but then clouds the issue by discussing classical minuets in a later chapter--the casual reader may miss the distinction, which he never states explicitly. In fact, some important overall points--that the turn toward the subdominant in many recapitulations is intended to balance the basic tonic-dominant polarity of the exposition, for example--are never stated by Rosen but left to be gleaned by the reader. He also fails to spend enough time, in my opinion, discussing the ways in which minor-key sonata movements differ from the prevalent major-key models. Still, with careful reading, following some of the examples with recordings, and perhaps a bit of reordering, a comprehensive picture does emerge of one of the most important currents in Western tonal music. I still have to recommend this book as the best available on this knotty subject.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Very specialized, but high quality
29 May 2004
Format:Paperback
Sonata form is not quite as dry as it sounds--it's the "plot line" that gives works of the Classical period their drama, even though they're not "about" anything, the way program music is. I find that I enjoy Classical-era works more when I know their form and can keep track of where I am in the piece.
This book goes into sonata form in considerable detail, covering its history, evolution, and variants. It displays the thoughtfulness and insight that Rosen brings to all of his books. It's not an easy read, and I find that it helps to be familiar already with the works under discussion before you read about them. One way to approach the book is to listen to one of the works it discusses several times, until you're quite familiar with it, then come back and read at what Rosen has written on that particular work.
Another bit of advice: don't try this book unless you've already read Rosen's much more famous book _The Classical Style_ and enjoyed it. _Sonata Forms_ is a follow-up on the earlier book, pursuing the same ideas about sonata form at a more technical level.
Bottom line: this book is written for a particular audience, but people who are part of that audience and put in the time to listen to all the works analyzed will feel that their reading efforts have been rewarded.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Highly Informative but Flawed
6 April 2007
Format:Hardcover
First: this book presupposes a reader who can read music well and knows some harmonic theory--if you know what chord V of V is in any key, you're fine; if that looked like Greek or mathematics to you, look elsewhere for a book on sonata form.
That said, if, as I did, you tried to read Rosen's The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and found yourself confused by his discussion of sonata form there, this could be the place to start. Rosen's analysis of the sonata forms (notice the plural) here gives the reader a much more complete and convincing argument for his analysis of sonatas as dramatic conflicts of tonalities (and yes, that's an oversimplification of his analysis, but it'll have to do) rather than the standard explanation of a sonata as the exposition/development/recapitulation of two themes in different keys so many of us received.
Now for the bad news: if Rosen's knowledge of particulars is vast and unimpeachable, his argumentation and methods are iffy, especially at crucial points. Case in point: Rosen dismisses general practice as an explanatory model for why sonata forms developed as they did as relying on "a false psychology of the composition and reception of music." (p. 4) In its place, he wants to put the social history of musical performance and reception at the time of the rise of the sonata forms, which he first employs to devastating polemical effect against an unnamed proponent of the general practice model. Problem is, Rosen's own use of social history depends on unjustified (and sometimes unmentioned) assumptions about putative listeners and performers, so much so that it comes to resemble (if not actually reproduce!) the general practice method he wants to displace. The game is pretty much up when judgments of one composer as a master of a particular technique or aspect of a sonata form start appearing; these only make sense in the context of a general practice model to explain sonata form, and so he's back to doing what he set out to oppose.
So if the book has these methodological problems, why buy it? Why give it three stars? Because Rosen's has such vast and deep knowledge of many particular works, and the price of being able to absorb some of it is having to endure his iffy theorizing. This may be a problem of scholarship in general: the price of ever more exact knowledge is a corresponding difficulty in making meaningful generalizations. This book is a gateway to the enormous wealth of knowledge and experience Rosen has as a musician and for me that more than justifies buying, reading, and studying it.
That said, if, as I did, you tried to read Rosen's The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and found yourself confused by his discussion of sonata form there, this could be the place to start. Rosen's analysis of the sonata forms (notice the plural) here gives the reader a much more complete and convincing argument for his analysis of sonatas as dramatic conflicts of tonalities (and yes, that's an oversimplification of his analysis, but it'll have to do) rather than the standard explanation of a sonata as the exposition/development/recapitulation of two themes in different keys so many of us received.
Now for the bad news: if Rosen's knowledge of particulars is vast and unimpeachable, his argumentation and methods are iffy, especially at crucial points. Case in point: Rosen dismisses general practice as an explanatory model for why sonata forms developed as they did as relying on "a false psychology of the composition and reception of music." (p. 4) In its place, he wants to put the social history of musical performance and reception at the time of the rise of the sonata forms, which he first employs to devastating polemical effect against an unnamed proponent of the general practice model. Problem is, Rosen's own use of social history depends on unjustified (and sometimes unmentioned) assumptions about putative listeners and performers, so much so that it comes to resemble (if not actually reproduce!) the general practice method he wants to displace. The game is pretty much up when judgments of one composer as a master of a particular technique or aspect of a sonata form start appearing; these only make sense in the context of a general practice model to explain sonata form, and so he's back to doing what he set out to oppose.
So if the book has these methodological problems, why buy it? Why give it three stars? Because Rosen's has such vast and deep knowledge of many particular works, and the price of being able to absorb some of it is having to endure his iffy theorizing. This may be a problem of scholarship in general: the price of ever more exact knowledge is a corresponding difficulty in making meaningful generalizations. This book is a gateway to the enormous wealth of knowledge and experience Rosen has as a musician and for me that more than justifies buying, reading, and studying it.
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