Sonata Form is perhaps the single most influential musical form in the history of classical music. It provided composers with a structural format for the extended development and exploration of musical ideas. This article will outline the principles of Sonata Form and then show how they can be applied to problem solving in general. 

The form is very straightforward. It starts with the introduction or statement of the first musical idea, known as the 1^st Subject. This theme tends to be very attention grabbing and dramatic in nature. The opening theme of Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony (da da da dar) is perhaps the most well known example. After this dramatic opening a more subtle, lyrical theme, the 2^nd Subject, is introduced (for a good example listen out for 'Alma’s Theme' during the first movement of Mahler’s 6^th ‘Tragic’ Symphony). As it is less dramatic, the 2nd Subject is usually less immediately memorable than the 1^st. It serves, however, to provide an effective contrast with, and in some ways a commentary upon, the attention grabbing opening. The initial statement of these two themes or subjects (technically called the exposition) constitutes the opening section of Sonata Form.

What follows next is the development of these two themes or subjects. They are explored in many different ways. They are fragmented, twisted, reversed, combined, played higher, played lower, and placed within contrasting musical contexts and tone worlds (known as keys).

After the development phase the two opening themes return in what sounds more or less like their original forms, but with some subtle differences that, together with their positioning after the development, encourage the listener to hear them in different, perhaps deeper, more insightful ways. An analogy might be that of meeting an old friend after a significant period apart. You are both the same people, but older and, with additional experience of life, perhaps that much wiser than the last time you met. As a result you can begin to perceive each other different, new ways.   

This feeling of repetition but with a sense of difference and development, perhaps even evolution, can sometimes be enhanced by the end section or ‘Coda’ of a piece of music.

More often than not the Coda simply signals that a piece is coming to an end, but in more thought provoking works it can add a significant, last moment insight or comment, rather like the postscript at the end of a letter. The end of ‘Metamorphosen’ (a piece for string orchestra by Richard Strauss) comes to mind, with its parting statement of the theme from the slow, funereal movement of Beethoven’s 3^rd Symphony. Strauss was coming to the end of what had been a long, eventful and influential life when he wrote this piece, and by including this understated quotation from ‘a funeral march for a hero’, he seems, in passing, to be acknowledging the closeness of his own final ‘metamorphosis’.

• Firstly, what is the dramatic, attention grabbing da da da dar of the issue? What is so demanding and important about the problem? Why has it been noticed? What are its consequences? What is the precise nature of the threat it poses? (Exposition of 1^st Subject)

• Next, what are the less obvious but more subtle, perhaps more insightful issues underpinning the attention grabbing ones? When people talk about the problem what other aspects become apparent? How does the problem usually present itself? Where is it found most often? Where is it found least often? Who has experienced it the most, with whom and when? Who thinks it is a problem, who does not and why? (Exposition of 2^nd Subject)

• Having identified what is dramatic and attention grabbing about the problem and also those more subtle issues that may underpin it, the next step is to examine both in detail: (Development)

Why are the consequences and threats associated with the da da da dar (1^st Subject) problem so important? What fundamental assumptions are we making about the problem? Are these assumptions good or do we need to test them? Are our assumptions giving undue significance to the problem and/or are they causing us to perceive it in unhelpful ways?

What happens when we give additional focus to the less obvious (2^nd Subject) issues underpinning or accompanying the headline problem? What previously unappreciated aspects come to light and how do they change the way we perceive the problem? Do they help us challenge some of the pre - conceptions  we hold about the problem?

What happens when we get creative with the issues involved and turn them inside out, upside down, place them within varying contexts or express them differently?

• After developing our thinking about the problem we need to recapitulate it - look at it again. How does the problem look now? What additional insights have been gained? How has it changed? Have any new, previously unappreciated problems come to prominence?  Do we need to start thinking about, talking about and approaching the problem differently? (Recapitulation)

• Lastly, what conclusions have been reached? What loose ends need to be gathered up and dealt with? Are there any additional small details or passing postscripts springing to mind that might help enhance further our thinking about the problem? (Coda)