A term of Robert O. Gjerdingen. An important ornament in the melody of a Converging Cadence is what Gjerdingen calls a High ➏ Drop. Instead of setting ④ with ➋ (a vertical sixth), it is set with a high ➏ (a vertical third), interrupting the stepwise descent. As such, the snippet ➋–➊ is pushed back […]
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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
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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,
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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
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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
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(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
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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,
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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
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An appoggiatura is a non-chordal note on a beat
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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