Steven Dingle writes: Hi, can anyone tell me, in simple terms, the difference between a fugue and

sonata? They appear to be very similar.

Well, not very similar at all, I should have thought. First, what are you meaning by sonata? Do you mean a baro ue style trio sonata, or a !eethoven piano sonata, or do you mean a symphonic movement in sonata form? " baro ue style trio sonata may contain three or four movements, and typically these movements will be in binary form. #pen or closed, simple or rounded, depending on the e$act form of each part of the biary form. %ounded is not particularly common in the baro ue era. &onata form grew out of binary form, and is more comple$. Here is what %osen has to say on the sub'ect()
&onata Form *e$ +harles %osen, -&onata Forms./ &onata form, as that term is most fre uently encountered, refers to the form of a single movement rather than to the whole of a three) or four)movement sonata, symphony, or wor0 of chamber music. It is sometimes called first movement form, or sonata allegro form. In its standard meaning, it is a three)part form, in which the second and third parts are closely lin0ed so as to imply a two)part organi1ation. The three parts are called e$position, development, and recapitulation( the two)2part organi1ation appears most clearly when, as often happens, the e$2position is played twice *the development)and)recapitulation section is also sometimes, but more rarely, repeated/. The exposition presents the principal thematic material, establishes the tonic 0ey and modulates to the dominant or to some other closely related 0ey. *In wor0s in the minor, this will generally be the relative ma'or./ The first theme or first group of themes is stated at the tonic. The statement is sometimes immediately repeated (counter-statement), and this counter)statement often leads without a brea0 into a modulation or bridge passage: this section ends either on the dominant or, more often with a half)close on 3 of 3. The second theme, or second group, is stated in the dominant( it is traditionally supposed to have a more lyrical and tran uil character than the first group, and is sometimes said to be more 4feminine.4 "t the end of the second group, there is a closing theme *or several closing themes/ with a cadential function. The final cadence of the e$position, on the dominant, may be followed by an immediate rep2etition of the e$position, or by a short transition leading bac0 to the tonic, then followed by the repeat, or)if the e$position is not re2peated)by the development. The development section may begin in one of several ways( with the first theme now played at the dominant, with an abrupt modulation to a more remote 0ey, with a reference to the closing theme, or ) in rare instances ) with a new theme. *In prescriptive accounts of sonata form, generally one new theme is allowed in development sections./ It is in this part of sonata form that the most distant and the most rapid modu2lations are to be found, and the techni ue of development is the frag2mentation of the themes of the e$position and the rewor0ing of the fragments into new combinations and se uences. The end of the devel2opment prepares the return to the tonic with a passage called the retran_sition The recapitulation starts with the return of the first theme in the tonic. The rest of this section 4recapitulates4 the e$position as it was first played, e$cept that the second group and closing theme appear in the tonic, with the bridge passage suitably altered so that it no longer leads to the dominant but prepares what follows in the tonic. 5onger wor0s are rounded off by a coda.

%osen is, of course, tal0ing of sonata in its classical form, not as it appears in its baro ue embodiment. Fugue is something uite different. For a start it is not in binary form, nor ternary, nor divided up in some countable manner. Typically a fugue starts with a single statement *in a single voice/ of a theme, after the firsrt statement the theme is ta0en up by a second voice almost always at the dominant though without modulation *up a fifth, or down a fourth/, all this being in counterpoint, i.e. the original voice continues to play in counterpoint. Then the theme is ta0en up by a third voice, at the tonic. " fourth and even a fifth voice may 'oin the party *very common on the organ c.f. 6&!, the master of fugue/. &ometimes the theme

may appear in augmentation, and towards the end of the fugue there is a often a passage in stretto. It is also common towards the end of a fugue for the theme to occur over a dominant pedal and in stretto. 7ou will find plenty of e$amples of fugues and trio sonatas amongst !ach8s wor0s which you can find here() http(99imslp.org9wi0i9:ain2;age 5oo0 under ! *!ach 6.&./ for preludes and fugues, and sonatas *for clavichord, violin and clavichord etc./ 6ohn