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The opening section of sonata form where themes are presented, or the opening section of a fugue where voices enter one by one with the subject.
In sonata form: present the first theme in the tonic key, transition to a new key, present the second theme. In fugue: introduce the subject in each voice at tonic and dominant levels. The exposition establishes everything the rest of the piece will work with.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, first movement — the exposition presents two contrasting theme groups with a dramatic transition between them.
Exposition is one of 1760 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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