Lessons in Music Form Part 6

PERFECT CADENCE.--There is one method of checking the current of the melodic phrase with such emphasis and determination as to convey the impression of finality; either absolute finality, as we observe it at the very end of a composition, or such relative finality as is necessary for the completion of some independent section of the piece,--conclusive as far as that section is concerned, though not precluding the addition of other sections to this, after the desired degree of repose has been felt. This is known as the perfect cadence, or full stop. It is always made upon the _tonic harmony_ of some key as cadence-chord, with the _keynote itself in both outer parts_, and--when desired in its strongest form (without such disguising as we have seen)--upon an _accented_ beat, and of somewhat longer duration than its fellow tones. For ill.u.s.tration:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 29. Fragment of Schubert.]

At the end of this four-measure phrase there is a perfect cadence, exhibited in its strongest, most conclusive form. It is practically undisguised, though the cadence-chord is reduced to three beats (from the four to which it is ent.i.tled) to make room for the preliminary beat of the next phrase (calculated to correspond to the one at the beginning of this phrase).

The cadence-chord is the tonic harmony of C minor; upon the primary accent of the 4th measure; it is considerably longer than any other tone in the phrase; and the keynote _c_ is placed both at the top and at the bottom of the harmonic body. See also Ex. 15; the cadence is perfect, because the cadence-chord, on the accent of the 4th measure, is the tonic harmony of G major, with the keynote as highest and as lowest tone. It is abbreviated by rests, which very slightly diminish its weight. Ex. 17, No. 2, closes with a perfect cadence; it is the tonic harmony of C major, on an accent, and with the keynote in the two extreme parts. See also Ex. 20.

In the following:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 30. Fragment of Schumann.]

the cadence-chord stands upon the secondary accent (3d beat) of the final measure. This method of shifting the cadence forward is generally adopted in large species of measure (6-8, 9-8, and the like), and has been defined among the devices employed in disguising or _lightening_ the cadence. In Ex. 22, No. 5, the cadence-chord is shifted to the last beat (unaccented) of the final measure; this lightens the cadence very materially, but it does not affect any of its essential properties as perfect cadence. The following is similar:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 31. Fragment of Schumann.]

The cadence-chord occupies the unaccented (2d) beat, and is no longer than any other chord in the phrase. Despite its striking brevity, it is nevertheless a perfect cadence, disguised; it is the tonic chord of C major, with the keynote at top and bottom. See also Ex. 23, No. 1.

The following ill.u.s.trations come under the head of the disguised cadences seen in Ex. 24:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 32. Fragments of Mendelssohn and Schubert.]

In No. 1 the cadence is perfect, for it is the tonic chord of G major, keynote _g_ at top and bottom, and on the primary accent of the fourth measure; but the uninterrupted continuation of the movement of 16ths, in the right hand, shortens the uppermost keynote to a single 16th-note, and would entirely conceal the cadence, were it not for the distinct evidence of repose in the lower part.

In No. 2 the movement in the upper part appears to shatter the cadence; the keynote does not appear on the accent, and its announcement at the end of the first triplet is very brief. For all that, it is an unmistakable perfect cadence; the chord thus shattered (or "broken,"

technically speaking) is the tonic harmony of the key, and the keynote _does_ appear as uppermost (and therefore most prominent) tone, in the same order of percussion as that given to each of the preceding melody tones.

At the end of an entire piece of music, or of some larger section of the piece, the cadence-chord, on the other hand, is often lengthened considerably, for the sake of the greater weight and decision of cadential interruption required at that place. Thus:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 33. Fragment of Schubert.]

The last two measures are merely the prolongation of the final cadence-chord. See also, Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words, No. 4, last five measures; No. 8, last eight measures; and others.

Another peculiarity of the final cadence is, that sometimes the _uppermost_ tone is the 3d or 5th of the tonic chord, instead of the keynote,--a significant device to counteract the dead weight of the cadence-chord, especially when prolonged as just seen. See No. 10 of the Songs Without Words, last six measures; it is the tonic chord of B minor, but the tone _d_ (the 3d) is placed at the top, instead of _b_.

Also No. 16, last chord; No. 38, last chord; No. 6, last three measures (the 5th of the tonic chord as uppermost tone). At any other point in the piece this default of the keynote would, as we shall presently see, almost certainly reduce the weight of the cadence from "perfect" to "semicadence"; at the very end, however, it cannot mislead, because it does not affect the condition of actual finality.

SEMICADENCE.--Any deviation from the formula of the perfect cadence--either in the choice of some other than the tonic chord, or in the omission of the keynote in either (or both) of the outer parts--weakens the force of the interruption, and transforms the cadence into a lighter, more transient, point of repose, for which the term semicadence (or half-stop) is used. The semicadence indicates plainly enough the end of its phrase, but does not completely sever it from that which follows.

It is these lighter, transient forms of cadence to which a number of different names are given; for the student of a.n.a.lysis (and the composer, also, for that matter) the one general term "semicadence," or half-cadence, is sufficient, and we shall use no other.

If, then, a cadence is final in its effect, it is a perfect one; if not, it is a semicadence. The harmony most commonly chosen as the resting-place of a semicadence is the chord of the _dominant_,--the fifth step of the momentary key,--that being the harmony next in importance to that of the tonic (the one invariably used for the perfect cadence). The following example ill.u.s.trates the dominant semicadence:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 34. Fragment of Brahms.]

The cadence-chord is the dominant harmony (root _e_) in the key of A minor; neither of the two upper tones on the first and second beats is the root of the chord; it is quite sufficient that the root appears as lowermost tone, and even this is not necessary. The "point of repose"

is shifted to the second beat, in the manner so amply ill.u.s.trated in the examples of the disguised cadence; the methods we have seen may be applied to _any_ kind of cadence.

See also Ex. 18; the key, and therefore the chord, at the semicadence is the same as that of the above example (simply major instead of minor).

Also Ex. 23, No. 4; the semicadence chord is the dominant harmony of E-flat major; it is skillfully disguised. Ex. 25, dominant harmony of A major. Ex. 26, last four measures; the semicadence is made upon the dominant of C minor.

In the following:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 35. Fragment of Schumann.]

the semicadence in the fourth measure is made with the dominant harmony of C major (the tones _g-b-d-f_); it is so disguised as to remove all signs of interruption; but the chord _prevails_ throughout the measure, and (as may be seen by reference to the original, op. 68, No. 3) the next measure--the fifth--exactly corresponds to the first; this indicates another "beginning," and proves our "ending."

But though the dominant is thus generally employed at the semicadence, it is by no means the only available chord. It must be remembered that every cadence which does not fulfil the definite conditions of the perfect cadence, is a semicadence. Examine each of the following, and determine why the point of repose is each time a semicadence:--Ex. 1; Ex. 9, No. 3; Ex. 14, No. 2, fourth measure; Ex. 14, No. 3, fourth measure; Ex. 19; Ex. 22, Nos. 3 and 4; Ex. 23, No. 2, fourth measure.

The distinction between the two species of cadence becomes most subtle when the _tonic harmony_ is chosen for the semicadence, _but with some other part of the chord than the keynote as uppermost (or lowermost) tone_. This might appear to lighten the perfect cadence too immaterially to exercise so radical an influence upon the value (weight) of the interruption. The _keynote_, however, is so decisive and final in its harmonic and melodic effect--everywhere in music--that its absence more or less completely cancels the terminating quality of the cadence-chord; in other words, the force of a tonic cadence depends upon the weight and prominence of the _keynote_.

For example:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Example 36. Fragment of Schubert.]

The first, second, and third of these cadences is made upon the tonic harmony, on the accent of each successive fourth measure. But they are only _semicadences_, as the melody (uppermost part) rests upon the Third of the chord, _c_, instead of the keynote; this subst.i.tution of _c_ for _a-flat_ is sufficient to frustrate the perfect cadence and diminish it to a transient interruption. The final cadence is perfect, however, because there the uppermost tone _is_ the keynote. See also Ex. 21; and Ex. 17, No. 2, fourth measure (semicadence, with _a_ instead of _f_ as princ.i.p.al tone in upper part, and disguised by the continuation of rhythmic movement to the end of the cadence-measure).

In Ex. 17, No. 1, the cadence is made with the tonic harmony of G minor, but with the Third (_b-flat_) at the top.

LOCATING THE CADENCES.--Next to the recognition and comparison of the different melodic sections of a composition (in a word, the _melodic delineation_ of the whole), the most significant task in music a.n.a.lysis is the locating and cla.s.sifying of the cadences. They are the angles of the design, so to speak; and have the same bearing upon the sense of the music as punctuation marks have in rhetoric. Intelligent and effective phrasing, adequate interpretation of the composer's purpose, is impossible without a distinct exposition of the cadences,--if not of the inferior points of interruption between motives, also.

The best general rule for locating cadences is, probably, to look for them in the right place, namely, in the _fourth measure_ from the beginning of each phrase. The fairly regular operation of this rule has been verified in Lesson 4. But exceptions have also been seen (in Ex. 17), and many more are certain to be encountered, simply because the principle of Unity (exemplified by the prevalence of the four-measure standard) must interact with the principle of Variety (exemplified in all phrases of irregular extent).

Therefore, the more reliable method, as already stated, is _to define the beginning of the following phrase_,--for each successive beginning involves a foregone cadence, of course. No very definite directions can be given; experience, observation, careful study and comparison of the given ill.u.s.trations, will in time surely enable the student to recognize the "signs" of a beginning,--such as the recurrence of some preceding princ.i.p.al member of the melody, or some such change in melodic or rhythmic character as indicates that a new phrase is being announced.

LESSON 5. a.n.a.lyze, again, Schumann, _Jugend Alb.u.m_ (op. 68), No. 6, locating every cadence and defining its quality,--as perfect cadence or semicadence. Also Nos. 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 33, 14, 15, 16, 3,--and others. As a curious ill.u.s.tration of the difficulty which may sometimes attend the a.n.a.lysis of phrases and cadences, the student may glance at No. 31 (_Kriegslied_, D major); a more baffling example will rarely be found, for the piece abounds in irregular phrase-dimensions, and cadences that are disguised to the verge of unrecognizability; the only fairly reliable clue the composer has given lies in the formation of the melodic members (the clue intimated in the explanatory text following Ex. 35).

Also Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words, No. 34 (first phrase six measures long); No. 40; No. 18.

Also Beethoven's pianoforte sonata, op. 22, third movement (_Menuetto_); op. 28, second movement (_Andante_).

Again the student is reminded that it is not only permissible, but wise and commendable, to pa.s.s by all confusing cases; without being careless or downright superficial, to observe a certain degree of prudent indifference at confusing points, trusting to that superior intelligence which he shall surely gain through wider experience.

CHAPTER VI. IRREGULAR PHRASES.

CAUSES.--The possibility of deviating from the fundamental standard of phrase-dimension (four measures) has been repeatedly intimated, and is treated with some detail in the text preceding Example 17, which should be reviewed. It is now necessary to examine some of the conditions that lead to this result.

The causes of irregular phrase-dimension are two-fold; it may result