Sonata-allegro form

The form generally used for the opening movement of the Classical sonata. It consists of an exposition, in which thematic material is presented for the first time, generally in two theme groups,the first one fast and the second slow, followed by the development, in which the thematic material presented in the exposition is developed, rearranged, transposed, and transformed, followed finally by the recapitulation, in which the thematic material is presented once again in its original form, usually followed by a short closing theme.