Cadences
Click on musical examples for playback
I. Harmonic Types
A. Authentic
- Perfect
- Imperfect
B. Plagal
C. Deceptive
D. Half
- Approached directly to V
- Approached via cadential 64
- “Phrygian” cadence in minor
II. Structural Types
A. Delayed Cadence
Typically, non-harmonic tones delay the final resolution
a) Accented passing tones
b) Accented neighbor (diatonic and chromatic) tones
c) Double neighbor tones
d) Suspensions- One of the most common is the half-cadence with the cadential 64, which delays the resolution to a weak beat. (The cadential 64 is generally a kind of suspension or accented passing tone.)
- Delays can be lengthy, using pedal points or harmonic evasions, or very short, or anywhere in between. (note: click the examples to play them)
B. Elided Cadence
- The new phrase begins simultaneously with, or before, the cadence chord of the first phrase.
C. Extended Cadence
- The resolution is extended beyond the resolving chord by:
- Arpeggiation
- Prolongation
- Repetition of chords
- Pedal points
D. Implied Cadence
- A cadence implies a particular chord, but the root is absent.
Typically this is moving to a I63 instead of root position.
a)Note the use of the “noncadential cadential 64” in helping to bring this about.
E. Evaded Cadence
- The resolution moves to a chord other than the expected.
- The most common is the “deceptive” cadence, in which the expected tonic becomes vi (VI in minor), or sometimes IV6 (iv6 in minor.)
- However, almost any sonority is possible; sometimes the evasion can be part of a sudden modulation.
- Constant evasion of cadences – in which the resolution is rarely, if ever, reached, are found typically in late Romantic works. Wagner typically uses such evasion in “endless melody” passages; Scriabin also evades cadences in many of his middle-period works.