Closure in Classical Themes: The Role of Melody and Texture in Cadences, Closural Function, and the Separated Cadence

Abstract

This article challenges two of William E. Caplin’s basic precepts regarding cadences in the classical style. First, the author argues that melody and texture contribute to the onset of cadential function. Second, he contends that themes may end not only with a half or authentic cadence, but also with a “closural function”, which substitutes for cadential function through a “cadence-like progression”. Moreover, he discusses how a theme may end with a cadence such that its melody and bass resolve at different times, a phenomenon he calls the separated cadence.Cet article remet en question deux des postulats de base William E. Caplin concernant les cadences dans le style classique. Tout d’abord, l’auteur fait valoir que la mélodie et la texture aident à délimiter la fonction cadentielle. Il soutient ensuite que tant la demi-cadence que la cadence authentique peuvent marquer la fin d’un thème, tout comme peut le faire une « fonction conclusive », qui se substitue à la fonction cadentielle par une « progression quasi cadentielle ». En outre, il explique comment une cadence peut conclure un thème de telle sorte que sa mélodie et sa basse se résolvent à différents moments, un phénomène qu’il appelle la cadence séparée

Cadence as Gesture in the Writings and Music of Arnold Schoenberg

“…One frustrating aspect of 'Problems of Harmony' is that Schoenberg does not clearly describe the 'other active artmeans' which contribute to comprehensibility. However, we can find a passage in Fundamentals of Musical Composition which seems at odds with current theory (see Caplin 2004and Richards 2010 and describes what he calls cadence contour:…”

“…One frustrating aspect of ‘Problems of Harmony’ is that Schoenberg does not clearly describe the ‘other active art‐means’ which contribute to comprehensibility. However, we can find a passage in Fundamentals of Musical Composition which seems at odds with current theory (see Caplin 2004 and 2018 and Richards 2010) and describes what he calls cadence contour:

In order to exercise the function of a cadence, the melody must assume certain characteristics, producing a special cadence contour , which usually contrasts with what precedes it. The melody parallels the changes in the harmony, obeying the tendency of the smallest notes (like an accelerando), or, on the contrary, contradicting the tendency by employing longer notes (like a ritardando).

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Cadential Melodies

“…Often, we can identify a distinctly melodic process closed by cadences, such as when, in the case of a perfect authentic cadence (PAC), the melodic line descends to the tonic scale degree" (Caplin 2004, 56-57). Mark Richards (2010) likewise notes that there are cases even in the Classical repertoire wherein the final melodic note is ambiguous, and the question of whether a PAC or IAC occurs remains contentious.…”

Hollywood Cadences

“…cadence type when elision is involved (Burstein 2010), how cadences are informed by non-harmonic factors (Richards 2010), and the necessity of a non-dissonant dominant at a half cadence (Schmalfeldt 2011, on the "nineteenth-century cadence). Return to text 29.…”