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Chapter 22
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony no. 40 in G Minor, K. 550, first movement
Chapter at a Glance
Listen to This First
Sonata Form
Harmony: Minor to Major
Historical Context: The Drama of Sonata Form
Contrasting Principal Melodies
Connect Your Playlist: Modulation
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter and listening to the work, students should be able to:
22.2 Listen for and describe the basic features of sonata form, including exposition, development,
recapitulation, and coda.
22.4 Describe the ways in which sonata form creates a dramatic musical structure.
-century society.
Key Concepts
sonata form, exposition, development, recapitulation, coda, modulation, contrasting themes and
harmonic areas
Chapter Highlight: Sonata Form
Sonata form was the most important structural convention to emerge from the Classical Era. It provided
Chapter Summary
The sonata –
act play in which the drama centers around characters or themes and locations or key
areas. In the exposition, we meet the characters or hear the themes. The development
section transforms the characters or themes and moves them to many different
locations or key areas. All of this heightens the drama. In the recapitulation, the main
themes or characters reappear and are recognizable from their first appearance in the
exposition, but contrasting themes or characters are now heard in the tonic or home
key. Similarly, characters in a play introduced in contrasting or exotic locations may be
brought to the home base. Bonds compares the symphony to the movie The Wizard of
Listening Guide
r, K. 550
and guides the students through changes in the melody and harmony. In the Melody
column, Bonds uses numbers (1
MyMusicLab Resources
Automated Listening Guide: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony no. 40 in G Minor,
K. 550, first movement
Profile: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 1791)
97
Discussion Topics and Critical Thinking Questions
1. D
and piano performance.
2.
Age of Reason have had on symphonic literature of the Classical Era?
3. Discuss the differences in this classical symphony and the concerto grosso of the
Baroque style.
Activities and Exercises
1. Compile information about th
of Austria. What factors in their lives may have led to their refusals to hire Mozart as
a court composer?
Journaling Prompt
The first movement of Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 is in sonata form, a structure that is