Why was sonata-form so popular in the classical period?
Although there are no simple answers to this question, it does afford an opportunity to define the nature of sonata form once again and to compare it to other phenomena in late eighteenth-century European and American cultures. You are encouraged to come up with examples from your own majors. For example: how do the drama and proportion of sonata form compare to the novel? to other Classical art forms? to the system of checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution? to Hegel's dialectic mode of thought?