The sentence theme type
This note is a rough collection of thoughts about the sentence. Click here for more details.
The sentence is a widely-used theme type. It has been in use since the Classical period and was first described analytically in schoenberg-1999. A significant amount of this book talks about the sentence in detail.
This note does not go into a significant amount of technical detail about the sentence. As my note collection consists mostly of “evergreen notes”, this note may come as a surprise. It is a bit lengthier but almost lacking substance! It mostly has to do with practical considerations of utilizing the sentence.
If you want a “table of contents” regarding the sentence, consider looking at the Analyzing Classical Form page that links out to other notes.
The sentence in music is regarded as the most important theme type in Classical music.[1] It occurs in many other styles of music as well – see the note on fragmentation for some examples – and is a quintessential part of a composer’s toolkit when writing any kind of melody-driven music.
Most of the time…
In my own experience, a sentence is usually just an 8-bar structure with this kind of layout:
- 2-bar idea (this idea usually has 2 motifs)
- Repetition of the 2-bar idea, maybe with some variation
- 2 bars incorporating fragments of the original 2-bar idea causing a feeling of “forward motion”
- A 2-bar cadential progression to cap off the theme
This is mostly how composer Ryan Leach describes it in this video.
hutchinson-2017 defines it even more loosely here:
- Melodic idea
- Repeat that idea
- Some additional material (maybe from the initial idea, maybe not) that leads to a cadence
The simple sentence encapsulates above descriptions.
Abstractions
The sentence can be defined using “functions”, each of which convey a feeling of “a place in time” within the theme. In order, a sentence consists of:
- A presentation function – the “beginning”
- A continuation function – the “middle”
- A cadential function – the “end”
Again, each of these functions is meant to convey the feeling of being at the designated point in the theme. For example, the continuation function is designed to make the listener feel as though they’re in the middle of the theme.
Practically speaking…
The abstractions help us to analyze sentences that do not fall into the “simple sentence” structure. This occurs often enough in Classical music. However, when starting out in the world of composing, the simple sentence format is “good enough”. If it works for Koji Kondo, it should work for you!
References:
[1]: caplin-2013 p.33