Elements of Sonata Theory is a comprehensive, richly detailed rethinking of the basic principles of sonata form in the decades around 1800. This foundational study draws upon the joint strengths of current music history and music theory to outline a new, up-to-date paradigm for understanding the compositional choices found in the instrumental works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries: sonatas, chamber music, symphonies, overtures, and concertos. In so doing, it also lays out th...

•  1. Contexts
•  2. Sonata Form as a Whole: Foundational Considerations
•  3. The Medial Caesura and the Two-Part Exposition
•  4. The Continuous Exposition
•  5. The Primary Theme
•  6. The Transition (TR)
•  7. The Secondary Theme (S) and Essential Expositional Closure: Initial Considerations
•  8. S-Complications: EEC Deferral and Apparent Double Medial Caesuras (TMB)
•  9. The Closing Zone (C)
•  10. The Development (Developmental S...