Classical form

by William Earl Caplin

When we listen to a Mozart piano sonata or a Haydn symphony, how do we know where we are from one moment to the next? How can we tell what parts of the piece belong to one another, or where the boundaries are? These are the questions raised and answered in William Caplin's Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.