Dynamics (volume) is perhaps the most neglected of musical parameters in analytical scholarship to this day. In general, it is still primarily regarded as an aspect of individual work structure and performance practice. In traditional Formenlehre, dynamics is either treated as a “secondary parameter” or completely ignored.
However, the use of certain dynamics for crucial points of sonata form has long been a matter of well-established traditions (e. g. beginning the second key area in piano). Composers assumed the listeners’ knowledge of these traditions and developed individual strategies to confirm or betray their expectations.
Needless to say, such traditions were first developed in orchestral music (concerto, overture, symphony), since instrumentation proved a particularly favourable means for the characteristic and strategical use of dynamics on a large scale (such as tutti – solo contrasts as well as dramatic crescendo phases). Orchestral music also saw the emergence of the slow introduction, which made it possible to begin the sonata allegro in piano. A study of the history of dynamics in sonata form also reveals important changes over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially with regard to the morendo codetta.
The aim of this paper is to combine some general remarks on the role and evolution of dynamics in 18th- and 19th-century sonata form (especially in symphonies and piano sonatas) with some case studies taking a deeper look at the exposition of specific works.