Musical Analysis of Piano Sonata

Musical Analysis of Piano Sonata

After careful listening and a thorough reading of the score presented, I have drawn certain conclusions related to this particular piece. While the score available only consists of a single movement of a typical piano sonata, it was still a highly interesting score to observe and evaluate. This analysis includes a full analysis of form, as well as information related to melody and harmony. The analysis concludes with a subjective opinion of my listening experience.

Form Analysis

Exposition

As stated in the assignment, the piece presented is a piano sonata -- more precisely the Allegro movement. The piece presents all the normal parts of a sonata movement, starting with the exposition of the first theme in F minor, which extends itself from measure 1 through 8, ending on the second beat of measure 8. If one wanted to go further in the analysis of this initial musical statement, the first theme could then be broken down in two parts -- let's call them part a and part B, each consisting of one measure each (part a would be measure 2 while part B is measure 3). This two-bar formula is repeated in a higher pattern reminiscent of the fifth degree (C major) of this particular tonality. The second part of this two-bar formula, the B. part, is then re-used twice one whole tone apart before leading to a half cadence resolving in C major. The cadence does not feature any similarities with the previous theme.

Moving into bar 9 to 19, the composer incorporated a transitive part, which leads into a second theme in Ab. This second theme starts in bar 20, with the melody entering the fourth beat of this bar, and is heard up until bar 48, at which point the exposition repeats itself as it should in a proper sonata form.

Development

Entering at measure 49, all the way through measure 100 is the development -- using the first theme introduced but played in the key of Ab. The second theme, which was originally in Ab is then played in Bb. From there, the composer introduced a strong repetitive bass line with descending patterns in the right hand until the end of the development.

Recapitulation

As a true sonata form would have it, enters the recapitulation at measure 101. The initial theme is brought back in its original key. However, the transitional part (from measure 109 to 118) is a variation of what was originally introduced during the exposition. From measure 119 to 139, the composer used the second theme introduced during the exposition, this time in F minor as opposed to the original Ab theme.

Coda

From measure 140 to 152, which marks the end of the Allegro movement of this piano sonata, is the coda. The final bar features a repeat, which brings the listener back to measure 49, where the Development first started. The listener is thus taken through the Development once more, then the Recapitulation and Coda.

Melody & Harmony

The harmonic analysis of this piece will focus on the exposition, as this is perhaps the most interesting part of the piece, composition-wise.

This piano sonata is written in the key of F minor. A general overview of the piece illustrates that the first 'half' of the piece features a half cadence (commonly referred to as the I-IV-V cadence) while the second half features a full cadence (referred to as the I-IV-V-I cadence). Let's take a closer look at the harmonic structure of the exposition.

The piece starts with a broken F minor chord played in the right hand, moving into a broken C7 chord in measure 3. The harmonic progression for the first theme goes as follow:

Measure 1-2: Fm (I)

Measure 3-4: C7 (V)

Measure 5: Fm (I)

Measure 6: C7 (V)

Measure 7-8: Ab, Gm, C (III -- II -- V)

As stated before, measures 9 to 19 are a transitive phrase before introducing the second theme of the exposition. The transition starts out with a broken C minor chord, moves into Fm, Bb7, Eb7, Ab and Db moving chromatically to Eb repeated thrice, at which point the sonata enters the second theme of the exposition, written in the key of Ab.

This second theme features a strong alternating bass pattern in the left hand, heavily relying on the fifth of the tonic chord (which in Ab is Eb). While this alternating bass line happens, the right hand adds a descending pattern repeated several times, always starting on the fourth beat of the measure. This pattern ends at measure 26, at which point enters a pattern of three eight notes separated by an eight rest -- the pattern slightly changes in measure 28 through 30; the eight notes pattern only happens on the last beat and a half of the measure. The initial three eight notes pattern repeats in measures 31 and 32. Measures 33 through 36 features a descending scale pattern in Ab, which repeats itself twice before moving into a pattern of chords eventually resolving in Ab.

As we move into the development, the composer continues to use the same kind of dominating right hand melody, using short rhythmic phrases that repeats over a few measures -- always supported by strong chordal movements providing moving harmonies as the right hand rhythmic patterns move up and down in their repetitions.

The entire movement of the piano sonata uses this same formula; melodic right hand patterns supported by chords played in the left hand. This consistency helps the listener to follow through the harmonic movements developed by the composer and also helps create a certain tension that only seem to release at each fermata (example at measure 108).