Sonata form: Transition

Transition function Piano Sonata

Transition function Piano Sonata

Advice from pianistaid.com team: From all Sonata functions, transitions are the most difficult ones to analyse. Learning about their main features and getting to understand how to identify them constitutes the main challenge for piano sonata analysis.

In order to perform a precise analysis of the sonata “matter”, you need to be aware of the boundaries of each one of its functions. The exposition is built up of three functions: main theme, transition and subordinate theme.

The boundaries of the transition can be defined using two different methods: elision or overlapping. You can read more about the “transition” in general by checking WKMT‘s blog at www.wkmt.co.uk/single-post/2017/10/24/Haydn-Sonatas—Transition-in-general