A
succession of chords is called a progression. The creation of these
progressions is the subject of our harmony studies. The simplest but very
important progressions are called cadences.
The primary triads are: I (tonic), IV (subdominant), and V (dominant). A strong and
satisfactory cadence can be
constructed by the use of these chords. Every phrase ends with some kind of a
cadence.
A cadence is an
ending that defines the tonality or key. The primary triads contain all the
notes of the scale, therefore, they do not leave us any doubt about the
tonality. If you want to create a
strong and non-ambivalent ending you should include all the three types of
functions (Tonic, Dominant, Subdominant) since two only do not determine the
key completely. For example, the C-E-G
and G-B-D chords can be found not only in C major but G major as well; but if
you add F-A-C the only key possible is C major - therefore the tonality is
absolutely clear. See the following example:
You can add either F or F#
to complete this scale but the resulting key will be C major or G major, respectively! C major is the only
possible key since these three triads contain all notes of the C major
scale!

For ease of understanding I will give all examples in the key of C
major and a minor. It will be easier to compare the examples and to
remember the most important points. However, in your exercises you should use
all keys. Keeping everything in C major and a minor might
place some of the examples in a less comfortable vocal range. This is a
sacrifice we have to make in order to keep things simple. You should
understand that for this reason the range of some of the exercises would not
conform to the normal voice range of a choir.
Examples
taken from classical musical works will, of course, retain the original key.
When
you write in choral style you should keep in mind the natural range of choir
voices. The normal voice ranges are shown below (approximately):
Soprano: C4 - A5
Alto: G3 - E5
Tenor: C3 - A4
Bass: F2 - D4
[C4 = middle C on the piano]
When
you write for keyboard, these ranges do not have to be observed strictly.
NOTE:
It
is important to know that in many choral music publications the Tenor is
written in treble clef and an
octave higher than it actually sounds. Sometimes you can see a little number 8
below the treble clef, at
other times you are just expected to know this. Do not get confused about this and
always take it into consideration when writing or analyzing harmonies written
this way. You can see this in a section
below from my Kardtαnc (Sword Dance) written for
mixed choir and piano:
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The actual pitch of the
Tenor line of the
above selection can be seen below:

AUTHENTIC (perfect) (e.g. I-IV-V-I or simply V-I)
PLAGAL (
e.g. I-V-IV-I or more commonly IV-I)
IMPERFECT (e.g. I-V)
DECEPTIVE
(e.g. V-VI)
Let us look at examples of
these in the three different starting positions. For the sake of simplicity we
will use C major and a minor in these cadences.
1.
AUTHENTIC (PERFECT) CADENCE


ό
Play these examples in
all keys (major and minor) and in all three starting positions.
ό
Write these examples in
the choral form (Soprano and Alto in the treble clef, Tenor and Bass in bass
clef).
The following examples show similar cadences written
in the chorale style. Note the direction of the stems and that the voices are
further apart (i.e. in the open
position).

Take a look at a few
examples of the authentic cadence from various compositions.
Below is a section of a
choral composition by Gastoldi for five voices (SSATB):

Another example in minor key:

Although a
complete cadence includes a
subdominant chord before the dominant and closing tonic often we see endings
where only the V I appears. This also creates a satisfactory ending in
most cases, especially when the tonality is not in question.

During your harmonic analysis you will find that in most
cases (especially in piano music) the cadences do not appear in their simplest
form. First of all, the number of voices may be more or less than the customary
four you have seen in chorale harmonizations. Secondly, often the chords are
broken up in various
patterns or
rhythmically altered some way. Finally, alien notes decorate the chords. You
will have to be able to recognize the harmonies despite these complications.
Let us look at a few examples:

(The V7 chord will be explained later)



In
the broad sense any cadence that does not end with a tonic chord can be
considered imperfect. In everyday terminology we call imperfect only those
cadences that end on V.
These
cadences are the most common in the classical melody construction of two
phrases; one like a Question and the other like an Answer. The
first phrase ends with an imperfect cadence while the answer is perfect. We
will explain this in depth later in Part IV, Musical Forms The Period
chapter.

ό
Play these examples in
all keys (major and minor) and in all three starting positions.
ό
Write these examples in
the choral form (Soprano an Alto in the treble clef, Tenor and Bass in bass
clef).
Study the following
examples of the imperfect cadence from various compositions:



Next you can
see a complete composition by Gastoldi for a five-voice choir (part of it was
previously shown). The chord symbols appear at the cadences. You can find both
perfect and imperfect cadences in this example. Label them appropriately!
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While the most common ending that we can find in the classical
period of music is the Authentic or (Perfect) cadence; quite often you will
find that the primary triads follow each other in a different order. If the
final tonic chord (I) is preceded by a subdominant chord (IV), the resulting progression will have a very
different feeling and is called a Plagal cadence. It is unusual to have all three functions present as
shown below more often the V does not precede
the subdominant IV.
NOTE: The concept of
authentic and plagal steps will be explained in Chapter XVII, GENERAL
CONSIDERATIONS.

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Minor key
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The marked V IV sounds unusual because of the augmented
fourth (tritone) step between the outer voices. This kind of step is
well tolerated in the inner voices but less acceptable in the outer voices
(Soprano and Bass).
ό
Play these examples in
all keys (major and minor) and in all three starting positions.
ό Write these examples in the choral style starting in
open position (Soprano and Alto in the treble clef, Tenor and Bass in the bass
clef)
Now let us look at a few
examples of the plagal cadence from various compositions.

The next is the ending
of a well-known madrigal by a 16th century composer:

I want to
mention here briefly the deceptive cadence as
well (some books call it interrupted cadence). We will work more thoroughly with this
in the next chapter when we examine the other triads (connecting the V with a VI requires doubling the third of VI instead of the root).
The
deceptive cadence got its name because it is substituting the real tonic chord with another VI that has a similar function but still
does not constitute a satisfactory ending in the home key. It deceives the
listener. The deceptive cadence has a nice, surprising effect (if not used too
often) and requires further continuation of the progression thus it can be
used as a means to extend the composition by another phrase.
Third
doubled
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Look at
the next few examples of deceptive cadences. The first one taken from Bachs Invention
in d minor is the simplest form it can take. Although there are only
two voices the harmonies V and VI are still clearly recognizable.


The
next excerpt from Mozarts Marriage of Figaro is another example how the
deceptive cadence could be used to extend the composition:

Paminas g
minor aria from The Magic Flute by Mozart is a simple V7-VI progression, which is the most typical.
Although we did not discuss the V7 chord as yet (it contains one extra note a seventh
from the bass) the effect is the same.
NOTE: Other
chords - not just the VI - can also
be used in a deceptive cadence. The following example is taken from the same
aria, just a few bars later:

The next example shows a
similar situation except a diminished seventh on the raised third degree is
used (these chords will be explained later).

Deceptive
cadence in a broad sense means that the
dominant chord does not resolve cadentially (perfect
fourth up/perfect fifth down) to the tonic. In the narrow sense, deceptive
cadence means a V VI progression.
The cadences create endings that are
not equally satisfying. I already mentioned that the imperfect and deceptive
cadences are less satisfactory to finish a piece. There must be some criteria to compare them in order to arrange them in a hierarchical order. We can
divide these criteria into three categories:
Harmonic
(observe the closing chord)
Melodic (observe
the last melody note)
Rhythmic
(observe if it ends on a strong, medium strong or weak beat)
The
most complete/satisfactory cadence
q
Ends on the I (Tonic) chord (of the original or home
key)
q
Ends the melody on the tonic note
q
Ends on a strong beat
In
this chapter we have examined the primary triads and learned about:
q
Arranging chords in four
part harmony
q
Styles of harmony
writing
q
Connection of chords in
a progression
q
Types of cadences
It is
important to know that the rules we have learned so far are valid in a
situation when no melody line is given. This kind of playing is used
e.g. by a harpsichordist playing the Continuo line (figured bass) in a baroque ensemble. You will hear more
about this in the Figured Bass Chapter. When we have to harmonize
a given melody line there will be special considerations. I will explain
this in the HARMONIZING MELODIES chapter.
In the
next chapter we will examine the remaining secondary triads of both major
and minor keys.
ό
Find, analyze and
compare cadences according to the above classification in your own piano (or
other) repertoire!
ό
Arrange the following
cadences in a hierarchical order (from strongest to weakest)

Order of cadences:
..
..
..
Write
the chord symbols for the next excerpt:
C:

Write
complete authentic cadences in the space provided below. Use the keys
indicated. You can choose your starting position and style. Make sure that you
follow the basic voice leading principles and fill the bars properly from the
rhythmic point of view. Mark the chords with the proper symbols.
Use half
notes (or multiples of it) since it saves quite a bit of time. Having to fill
in the notes (quarters) is an extra burden that we can avoid by using mostly half
notes in our exercises. You also should note that I use capital letters to
indicate major and lower case letters to show minor keys.

Write imperfect cadences in
the space provided. Do not forget to write the proper key signatures.
