Sonata Form

[liszt_ani_rach]

Hey guys,

I've been composing a lot of piano music with the software Finale (https://www.finalemusic.com/default.aspx).

I've composed 3 etudes, 6 waltzes, 2 preludes and one Fantasy. I want to compose a sonata, but I need to know the Sonata form. I want to compose a Sonata like Liszt's sonata in b minor, unlike Beethovenm, Mozart and chopin's sonatas. Liszt's sonata revolves around a few main themes.. The whole piece goes up to half an hour. How do I compose like that? What is the structure of a sonata?
I would appreciate your help.

[chopinspride]

I have not played the Liszt sonata, but the structure seems very complex. From my understanding, although it is divided into movements, the whole piece is a large sonata form movement, e.g. the structure of the whole sonata is the same as the structure of a Mozart sonata first movement.


Read this article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_form

Good luck composing .

Keep me informed!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_form

[liszt_ani_rach]

Thanks man. I just finished composing my Ballade in G minor.. I'll upload the vid onto youtube( A vid of the finale software playing it)..

[supapiano225]

upload it!!!!!

[liszt_ani_rach]

will upload it in a day or two..!

[invictious]

The Liszt Sonata has a very complex structure. It is rather unconventional, I believe, for the sonata form.

As to how to compose like that, I do not think you will get any answer. Liszt is Liszt after all.

[liszt_ani_rach]

The Liszt Sonata has a very complex structure. It is rather unconventional, I believe, for the sonata form.

As to how to compose like that, I do not think you will get any answer. Liszt is Liszt after all.

Yeah, Liszt remains Liszt. No one can match his way of composing music. Its a bit vague though!

[soitainly]

 I doubt that anyone can fully describe the sonata form in an internet forum post, sonata form has a vast history and has evolved over time. To seriously consider composing a sonata I would think you would want to take on a lengthy study of this history. This is assuming you have a firm grasp of music theory. Any thing less and you will have a superficial understanding of what the genre requires. None of this means you can't compose great music while knowing next to nothing about theory or history, but if you are truly wanting to understand sonata form you won't learn it in a week or a month or maybe even a year.

 To give you a start, the Teaching Company put out a multi volume CD set called the Piano Sonatas of Beethoven. Professor Robert Greenburg talks for many hours going through all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas while also giving a biography of the man himself. He talks at length on how Beethoven took the very structured sonata form of his time and then broke with conventions to serve his own purposes. Part of the genius of Beethoven was the way he handled modulating between keys that had not been done to that extent before, yet the results worked. So, like most of the great composers, he broke the rules of what was conventional theory and structure.

 You could probably find quite a bit of information on the internet about sonata form, but like anything on the internet, you kind of need to have some knowledge going in to filter out the disinformation. If you are serious you should consider taking a class on composition that includes sonata form. I am sure there are lots of general composition books and hopefully you can find some at your library. I would imagine there are also many books written specifically on sonatas as well but they may be harder to find.

 Again, learning to compose through traditional academic channels is not a weekend project, it is a dedicated course of study. I am not trying to discourage you from this project, I am just trying to give you a realistic approach. If you aren't dedicated then I would think of taking on more easily attainable problems.

[liszt_ani_rach]

Thanks for your advice. I have composed around 9 waltzes already. I will start composing some preludes and etudes now.