Ioannis
Fulias, “Sonata forms
and their theoretical evolution: 18th-century theorists (III)”, Polyphonia 10, Athens 2007, p. 35-64.
The
third part of this extensive survey of the
theoretical evolution of sonata forms from 18th to 20th centuries
presents three other contributions from the late 18th-century. The most
important among them comes undoubtedly from the Italian Francesco Galeazzi,
whose description of sonata form is in fact very similar to Koch’s one, but
with a significant difference: Galeazzi emphasizes the thematic (melodic)
aspects of form, which offer us the possibility to understand the sonata form
of this period in a deeper, more accurately and more holistic way, through a
cross-examination of these two major writings on this topic. Another
contemporary theorist, Johann Friedrich Daube, gives a precious evidence of the ternary (and not binary) partition of
the prevailing late 18th-century sonata type, while August Kollmann’s
account of a rather binary sonata form
looks highly unsophisticated and insufficient for that matter.
© Ioannis
Fulias