Mozart, Piano Sonata in B-flat, K. 333/i (Allegro)

Chapter 2—which may be read before chapter 1, if that is the preference of the reader—is the book’s first illustration of Sonata Theory in practice. It provides a close reading of the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B-flat, K. 333, that simultaneously presents an introduction to the theory’s specific mode of analysis and its most central concepts and terms. Not least of its concerns are its urgings that the listener/analyst is a co-creator of the work’s meaning (resulting ultimately in a responsible hermeneutic reading): Sonata Theory analysis seeks to be an aesthetically receptive, interactive dialogue with an individual work. Even in its most language-technical moments, it tries to integrate methodical observation with a personal sensitivity to the affective contours and colors of music as music. Two other features of the book are also introduced here: a historical/contextual backdrop for the work under consideration (including dating, original purpose, and aesthetic); and the inclusion of other modes of analytical practice to suggest their compatibility with Sonata Theory.