Sonata Forms

Rating:
Summary: annoying
Review: Don't get me wrong. Information about sonata form is here to be had, but only for those willing to suffer the author's turgid prose, circular arguments, evasiveness, and haughty sense of malicious "humor". Really, I think the problem is that this book tries too hard: too hard to be clever (it rarely is), too hard to be fashionably iconoclastic (which actually makes it conventional--rather), too hard to be above reproach (nothing is). I can't help myself; I find it insufferable.

Rating:
Summary: Very specialized, but high quality
Review: Sonata form is not quite as dry as it sounds--it's the "plot line" that gives works of the Classical period their drama, even though they're not "about" anything, the way program music is. I find that I enjoy Classical-era works more when I know their form and can keep track of where I am in the piece.

This book goes into sonata form in considerable detail, covering its history, evolution, and variants. It displays the thoughtfulness and insight that Rosen brings to all of his books. It's not an easy read, and I find that it helps to be familiar already with the works under discussion before you read about them. One way to approach the book is to listen to one of the works it discusses several times, until you're quite familiar with it, then come back and read at what Rosen has written on that particular work.

Another bit of advice: don't try this book unless you've already read Rosen's much more famous book _The Classical Style_ and enjoyed it. _Sonata Forms_ is a follow-up on the earlier book, pursuing the same ideas about sonata form at a more technical level.

Bottom line: this book is written for a particular audience, but people who are part of that audience and put in the time to listen to all the works analyzed will feel that their reading efforts have been rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: Very specialized, but high quality
Review: Sonata form is not quite as dry as it sounds--it's the "plot line" that gives works of the Classical period their drama, even though they're not "about" anything, the way program music is. I find that I enjoy Classical-era works more when I know their form and can keep track of where I am in the piece.

This book goes into sonata form in considerable detail, covering its history, evolution, and variants. It displays the thoughtfulness and insight that Rosen brings to all of his books. It's not an easy read, and I find that it helps to be familiar already with the works under discussion before you read about them. One way to approach the book is to listen to one of the works it discusses several times, until you're quite familiar with it, then come back and read at what Rosen has written on that particular work.

Another bit of advice: don't try this book unless you've already read Rosen's much more famous book _The Classical Style_ and enjoyed it. _Sonata Forms_ is a follow-up on the earlier book, pursuing the same ideas about sonata form at a more technical level.

Bottom line: this book is written for a particular audience, but people who are part of that audience and put in the time to listen to all the works analyzed will feel that their reading efforts have been rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: Sonata Form
Review: This is a very good book which thouroughly discusses sonata form and the way it is dealt with as a style. It also speakes of the signifcant role it plays in the period, though the style itself wansn't thought of until later. Rosin is an immaculate writer.