Elements of Sonata Theory outlines a fresh approach to analysing the sonata. Both building on and departing from earlier methods of analysis, this study provides a comprehensive and in-depth examination of the sonata genre. After establishing the normative features of the sonata, the authors examine how individual sonatas from Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart both adhere to and deviate from those standards to a variety of effects. Co-authored by a music theorist and a musicologist, this book both provides a groundbreaking foundational theory and offers fresh insights on individual works from the Western canon.