Editing Sonata rondo form

{{RefImprove|date=March 2022}}{{Short description|Classical music form}}
'''Sonata rondo form''' is a [[musical form]] often used during the [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] and [[Romantic period (music)|Romantic]] music eras.  As the name implies, it is a blend of [[sonata form|sonata]] and [[Rondo|rondo forms]].

== Structure ==

=== Sonata and rondo forms ===
[[Rondo form]] involves the repeated use of a [[Theme (music)|theme]] (sometimes called the "refrain") set in the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] key, alternating with episodes, resulting in forms such as ABACA (the five-part rondo) or ABACADA (the seven-part rondo). In a rondo, the refrain (A) may be varied slightly. The episodes (B, C, D, etc.) are normally in a different [[Key (music)|key]] than the tonic.

[[Sonata form]] is a classical form composed of three main sections, namely [[Exposition (music)|exposition]], [[Development section|development]], and [[recapitulation (music)|recapitulation]]. A sonata may begin with an [[introduction (music)|introduction]], which is commonly slower than the remainder of the movement. After that, there is an exposition, whose purpose is to present the movement's main thematic material. This takes the form of one or two themes or theme groups, the second of which is commonly in a related key. The exposition may conclude with a short [[codetta]] or closing theme and may be repeated. This is followed by the development section, in which existing thematic material may be presented in new harmonic and textural contexts or entirely new material may be introduced. Next comes the recapitulation, where all themes or theme groups from the exposition are presented again but now in the tonic key. Sonatas may optionally end with a final large section called the [[Coda (music)|coda]].

The following shows the structure of sonata form. In the notation, a single prime (') means "in the dominant" and a double prime (") means "in remote keys".

:[A B']<sub>exp</sub> [C"]<sub>dev</sub> [A B]<sub>recap</sub>

Occasionally, sonata form includes an "episodic development," which uses mostly new thematic material.  Two examples are the first movements of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s [[Piano Sonata No. 10 (Mozart)|piano sonata K. 330]] and [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven's]] [[Piano Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven)|piano sonata Op. 14, no. 1]].<ref>For further discussion see Rosen (1997, 51).</ref>  The episodic development is often the kind of development that is used in sonata rondo form, to which we now turn.

=== Sonata rondo form ===
Sonata rondo form combines features of the five-part rondo and sonata form.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caplin |first=William E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/567929606 |title=Classical Form |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=1-60256-121-4 |location=Oxford |pages=235 |oclc=567929606}}</ref> The simplest kind of sonata rondo form is a sonata form that repeats the opening material in the tonic at the end of the exposition and recapitulation sections.

:[A B' A]<sub>exp</sub> [C"]<sub>dev</sub> [A B A]<sub>recap</sub>

By adding in these extra appearances of A, the form reads off as '''AB'AC"ABA''', hence the alternation of A with "other" material that characterizes the rondo.  Note that if the development is an episodic development, then C" will be new thematic material—thus increasing the resemblance of sonata rondo form to an actual rondo.

==== "Six-part" variants ====
[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] sometimes used a variant type of sonata rondo form in which the first "A" section of the recapitulation is omitted. Thus:

:[A B' A]<sub>exp</sub> [C"]<sub>dev</sub> ['''B A''']<sub>recap</sub>

Mozart's purpose was perhaps to create a sense of variety by not having the main theme return at such regular intervals. He used the form in the finales of his [[Piano Quartets (Mozart)#Other chamber music|piano quartets]] and a number of his [[Mozart piano concertos|piano concertos]].

Another six-part sonata rondo form may be written as:

:[A B' A]<sub>exp</sub> [C"]<sub>dev</sub> ['''A B''']<sub>recap</sub>

This instance occurs in the 4th movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor.

== Codas ==

Often, regular sonata form includes a [[Coda (music)|coda]]:

:[A B']<sub>exp</sub> [C"]<sub>dev</sub> [A B]<sub>recap</sub> [D]<sub>coda</sub>

This longer version of sonata form has a counterpart in sonata rondo form.

:[A B' A]<sub>exp</sub> [C"]<sub>dev</sub> [A B A]<sub>recap</sub> [D]<sub>coda</sub>

Thus:  AB'AC"ABAD. An example is the last movement of Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)|"Pathetique" Sonata]], Op. 13.

== Sonata rondo form as a variant of rondo form ==

It is also possible to describe sonata rondo form by starting out with rondo form and describing how it is transformed to be more like sonata form.  For this explanation, see [[rondo]].

[[Cuthbert Girdlestone]] conjectured in his "Mozart and His Piano Concertos" that the sonata rondo form derives also in part from the dances ''en rondeau'' of [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]], among others, by structural elaboration, possibly an innovation of Mozart's.<ref>{{cite book|last=Girdlestone|first=Cuthbert Morton|title=Mozart and his Piano Concertos|isbn=0-486-21271-8|location=Mineola, New York|publisher=Dover Publications|year=1964|orig-year=1939, 1958|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mozarthispianoco00gird/page/48 48–55]|url=https://archive.org/details/mozarthispianoco00gird/page/48|edition=Republication of Second}}</ref>

== Uses of the sonata rondo form ==

Sonata rondo form is almost exclusively used in the finales of multi-movement works.<ref>Chopin's [[Scherzo No. 4 (Chopin)|scherzo no. 4]], Op. 54, is a standalone piece in this form.</ref>  It is considered a somewhat relaxed and discursive form.  Thus, it is unsuited to an opening movement (typically the musically tightest and most intellectually rigorous movement in a Classical work). It is, exceptionally, used in the opening Andante movement of Haydn's D-major piano sonata Hob. XVI:51.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/joseph-haydn-piano-music-volume-i|title = Nonesuch Records Joseph Haydn: Piano Music, Volume I| date=20 April 2009 }}</ref>  Here are some movements written in sonata rondo form:

*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]
**[[K. 333|Piano Sonata No. 13]], K. 333 (1783), last movement
**[[Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 20]], K. 466 (1785), last movement
**[[Piano Concerto No. 23 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 23]], K. 488 (1786), last movement
**[[K. 563|Divertimento for String Trio]], K. 563, last movement
*[[Joseph Haydn]]
**[[Symphony No. 85 (Haydn)|"La Reine" Symphony]], Hoboken 1/85 (1785), last movement
**[[Symphony No. 103 (Haydn)|"Drumroll" Symphony]], Hoboken 1/103 (1795), last movement
*[[Chevalier de Saint-Georges|Joseph Bologne]]
**Sonata for Flute and Harp in Eb Major, last movement
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
**Two [[Violin Sonata No. 1 (Beethoven)|violin and piano sonatas]], Op. 12 (1798), last movements<ref name="White">White, John D. (1976). ''The Analysis of Music'', p.60. {{ISBN|0-13-033233-X}}.</ref>
**[[Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata, Op. 13]] (1798), last movement<ref name="White" />
**[[Piano Sonata No. 13 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata, Op. 27, No. 1]] (1800–1801), last movement
**[[Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata, Op. 90]], last movement
**[[Violin Concerto (Beethoven)|Violin Concerto]], Op. 61 (1806), last movement<ref name="White" />
**[[Symphony No. 4 (Beethoven)|Fourth Symphony]], Op. 60 (1806), second movement
**[[Symphony No. 6 (Beethoven)|Sixth Symphony]], Op. 68 (1808), last movement{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}
**[[Symphony No. 8 (Beethoven)|Eighth Symphony]], Op. 93 (1812), last movement<ref name="White" />
*[[Franz Schubert]]
**[[Death and the Maiden Quartet (Schubert)|''The Death and the Maiden String Quartet'']], D. 810 (1824), last movement
**[[Schubert's last sonatas#Sonata in B♭ major, D. 960|Piano Sonata No. 21]], D. 960 (1828), last movement
*[[Felix Mendelssohn]]
**[[Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn)|Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64]] (1844), last movement
*[[Johannes Brahms]]
**[[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms)|Piano Concerto No. 2]], Op. 83 (1881), fourth (last) movement
**[[Violin Sonata No. 3 (Brahms)|Violin Sonata No. 3]], Op. 108 (1886–1888), fourth (last) movement

==See also==
*[[ABACABA pattern]]

==Notes==

<references/>

== References ==

* {{cite book|last=Rosen|first=Charles|year=1997|title=The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=0-393-04020-8|oclc=35095841|url=https://archive.org/details/classicalstyleha00rose
|url-access=registration|access-date=2008-01-13}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Rosen|first=Charles|year=1988|orig-year=1980|title=Sonata Forms|url=https://archive.org/details/sonataforms00rose|url-access=registration|edition=1988|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=0-393-02658-2}}

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