A Sonata Theory Handbook

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.

James Hepokoski is Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor Emeritus of Music at Yale University. Bridging the professional domains of music history and music theory, he is a specialist in symphonic and chamber music in the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries as well as in current research methodologies and hermeneutics. He is the author, together with Warren Darcy, of the award-winning Elements of Sonata Theory (OUP, 2006), an innovative contribution to "the New Formenlehre."

Acknowledgments
Overture

Chapter 1: What Is Sonata Theory?
Chapter 2: Mozart, Piano Sonata in B-flat, K. 333/i (Allegro)
Chapter 3: Mozart, Symphony No. 34 in C, K. 338/ii (Andante di molto pi? tosto allegretto)
Chapter 4: The Basics: Sonata Types 3 and 1
Chapter 5: Haydn, Symphony No. 100 in G, "Military," first movement (Adagio allegro)
Chapter 6: Haydn, String Quartet in G, op. 76 no. 1/i (Allegro con spirito)
Chapter 7: Beethoven, Symphony No. 2 in D, op. 36/i (Adagio molto-Allegro con brio)
Chapter 8: The Minor-Mode Sonata
Chapter 9: Beethoven, String Quartet in E Minor, op. 59 no. 2/i (Allegro)
Chapter 10: Schubert, String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810/i (Allegro)
Chapter 11: The Type 2 Sonata
Chapter 12: Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, op. 68/iv (Adagio--Pi? andante--Allegro non troppo, ma con brio--Pi? allegro)

Appendix: Sonata Types 4 and 5
Bibliography