Le 28 juin 2017
de 16h00 à 16h30
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
amphithéâtre 4
Séance - Falling Nicely Into Place: The Cadence in History and Theory
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : William E. Caplin
This paper identifies a cadential anomaly in instrumental music of the classical style, in which a perfect authentic cadence (PAC) appears to close a phrase (usually an initiating one), but the final tonic suddenly opens up onto a half cadence (HC) instead. The phrase is then repeated, and the original PAC returns to close the ongoing thematic process. Beyond merely describing the phenomenon of the “reopened” half cadence, I aim to uncover what motivates its usage and why it appears as an appropriate mode of closure in some special compositional circumstances. Detailed analyses of five reopened HCs (Beethoven, Op. 36; Beethoven, Op. 24; Mozart, K. 458; Mozart, K. 515; Haydn, Op. 55, No. 1) reveal that this cadential anomaly can be seen to arise from specific motivic, harmonic, and formal concerns that are unique to the theme. For each case, I explore the formal context under which the cadence arises, assess the particular ways in which the PAC is manipulated to become a HC, and posit reasons for why the technique is appropriately employed, usually in reference to the motivic or harmonic content of the “basic idea” of the theme. Two additional passages (Beethoven Op. 30, No. 3; Mozart K. 421) are perhaps dubious cases of the technique, though understanding their thematic organization in light of a potential reopened HC provides new modes of formal interpretation. The reopened HC not only reveals ingenious compositional manipulations, but also engages a listener-oriented approach to some thorny issues of cadential expectation and retrospective reinterpretation.
