the period. In Schoenberg's view, 'the sentence is a higher form of construction than the period. It not only makes a statement of an idea, but at once starts a kind of development' (Schoenberg 1967, p.58). Schoenberg's conception of the sentence has been widely adopted in music theory, and appears in many introductory music theory textbooks. While Schoenberg's conception of the sentence is traditionally used in analysis of music from the Classical period, it has also been applied to the Classical music of the 19th and 20th centuries, and to American popular songs from the early twentieth century. See also Period (music) Phrase (music) References Sources Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music (Musicologie générale et sémiologue, 1987). Translated by Carolyn Abbate (1990). . MacPherson (1930). Form in Music, Joseph Williams Ltd., London. Caplin, William E. (1998). Classical Form: A theory of Formal Functions. . Schoenberg, Arnold (1967). "Fundamentals of Music Composition". External links Musical Sentence www.artofcomposing.com Formal sections in music analysis