Sonata form, Beethoven and Romanticism: an approach under Nicolai Hartmann's Theory of Layers

Abstract

The sonata form is one of the most used musical structures since the 18th century in works for solo instruments, chamber works, symphonic pieces and even opera music. The formal disposition of this types of constructions is based on the relations between stability, instability and tension, which are initially generated in the harmonic discourse. However, these relations can also be found at the melodic, rhythmic and timbral levels. This document presents the first movement of the Quartet No. 1 in F Major Op. 18 by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed in sonata form, as a structure based on rhythmic rela-tions. The main theoretical basis of this study is found in Nicolai Hartmann's Theory of Layers.