Sentence (music)
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In Western music theory, the term sentence is analogous to the way the term is used in linguistics, in that it usually refers to a complete, somewhat self-contained statement. Usually a sentence refers to musical spans towards the lower end of the durational scale; i.e. melodic or thematic entities well below the level of 'movement' or 'section', but above the level of 'motif' or 'measure'. The term is usually encountered in discussions of thematic construction. In the last fifty years, an increasing number of theorists such as William Caplin have used the term to refer to a specific theme-type involving repetition and development.
Sentence as a metaphor for musical statement
Since the word 'sentence' is borrowed from the study of (verbal) grammar—where its accepted meaning is one that does not admit of straightforward application to musical structures—its use in music has frequently been metaphorical. Especially before the latter half of the twentieth century, different musicians and theorists employ and define the term in different ways. For example, Macpherson (1930, 25) defines a musical sentence as "the smallest period in a musical composition that can give in any sense the impression of a complete statement." It "may be defined as a period containing two or more phrases, and most frequently ending with some form of perfect cadence." Among the simplest examples he gives are what he calls 'duple sentences' -- themes (from Mozart's D major Piano Sonata and Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto) in which we find pairs of 'balanced' phrases (four-bar 'announcing phrase' ending in half-cadence, followed by four-bar 'responsive phrase' ending with perfect cadence): to many modern theorists this kind of structure is called a period'. Similarly, the Grove Dictionary of Music states that the term 'sentence' "has much the same meaning as ‘period’, though it lacks the flexibility of the latter term."
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