stephane b asked 8 years ago
I am a bit confused by the relationship between the Ternary Form and the Sonata Form.
On the one hand, i was reading from the previous answer from Dylan that “The form is broken down into 3 parts, which get their origin from being scaled down from a larger, Sonata Form.”
However, the first two parts of the ternary form (TF) seem to present some similarities with the Exposition of a sonata (SE) :
* TF Exposition -> SE Main theme
* TF Contrasting Middle -> SE Transition
So, what are the relationships between these two forms? CanTernary Form be used to construct pieces of Sonata, and is that correct to see aTernary Form as a small version of a Sonata?
Jon Brantingham Staff answered 8 years ago
I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on the historical development of the form, so take this with a grain of salt. I know more about it from the classical period on.
The sonata form and small ternary are really two different things, and while they share terminology, they really have different compositional goals.
Small Ternary Form (STF) is a theme type. You can think of it somewhat as a nested theme because it usually contains a normal sentence or period as the exposition. However, STF doesn’t usually confirm a different key. What is nice, is that with a contrasting middle, you can still bring some beginning-middle-end feel to your piece in a small amount of time, which is why I like to use it for practice pieces.
Sonata Form on the other hand, has a lot more to do with flexing the compositional muscles of the composer. While the exposition, development, and recapitulation somewhat match the exposition, contrasting middle and recapitulation of the STF, the development doesn’t really focus on the dominant key area, which actually happens in the subordinate theme.
But there are probably better resources to understand the historical development of Sonata Form and Small Ternary Form.