Schemata

This essay discusses some examples given by Robert O. Gjerdingen in his book Music in the Galant Style of a Romanesca followed by a Prinner. A typical galant pair of schemata is that in which a Romanesca begins a composition (a proposta schema) and is followed —or ’answered’— by a Prinner (a risposta schema). For […]

As we saw in my essay The Quiescenza: The Basics, a Quiescenza is a tonic pedal point with four or five sonorities, 5/3 – [7♭/5/3 –] 6/4 – 7(♮)/4/2 – 8/5/3, and a ➎–➏–➐–➊ or ➊–♭➐–➏–(♮)➐–➊ treble line that can be used as a proposta schema or occur in a closing passage. In this essay,

This essay is the first of two exploring a schema that Robert O. Gjerdingen has labelled Quiescenza (Italian for a state of repose or inactivity). A Quiescenza is a tonic pedal point with four or five sonorities, 5/3 – [7♭/5/3 –] 6/4 – 7(♮)/4/2 – 8/5/3, and a ➎–➏–➐–➊ or ➊–♭➐–➏–(♮)➐–➊ treble line that can

A Cudworth cadence is of the most common and typical galant cadences. It combines a ③–④–⑤ bass with a complete descending scale in the upper part from ➊ to ➊. Gjerdingen named this cadence in honour of English musicologist Charles L. Cudworth (1908–1977), who first discussed this type of cadence. This is the model Cudworth

(This essay also discusses the High ➏ Drop.) Term by Robert O. Gjerdingen. A Converging cadence, which is a type of half cadence, “is so named by virtue of the way its two outer voices move toward each other, converging on the dominant” (Gjerdingen (2007), p. 159). The Two-Part Converging Cadence A Converging cadence can

Term coined by Robert O. Gjerdingen. In the words of Gjerdingen, referring to the first movement of Keyboard Sonata in C major KV545 by Mozart: “The endings of the first and second halves of a famous Mozart keyboard sonata present the two most common variants of the Final Fall… The first is the more galant,

In this essay, I will explore the paired Do-Re-Mi —the term also comes from Robert O. Gjerdingen, which was another favourite opening schema in the galant style that also existed in several variants. The term paired Do-Re-Mi —a variant of the (‘regular’) Do-Re-Mi— refers to a proposta schema that, due to the addition of an

Like the Romanesca, the Do-Re-Mi —the term comes from Robert O. Gjerdingen— was a favourite opening schema in the galant style that also existed in several variants. The term Do-Re-Mi refers to a proposta schema often featuring a ➊–➋–➌ snippet in the melody and a ①–⑦–① snippet in the bass. This essay will explore several

Term coined by Robert O. Gjerdingen, after an observation by Leonard B. Meyer. In the words of Gjerdingen, “in the 1970s, Leonard B. Meyer noticed that many eighteenth-century phrases resembled the opening of the hymn tune ‘Adeste Fidelis’. Its melody, believed to date from the early eighteenth century, opens with a variant of the Do-Re-Mi

A risposta schema (or riposta schema) is a schema that follows (‘responds to’) a proposta schema. See also proposta schema. Select Bibliography Gjerdingen, Robert O. Music in the Galant Style (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).