On Jul 2, 2005, at 11:01 PM, Harold Owen wrote:
Dear Christopher,
I'm with you completely. I think classical theory has made too much of
the IV-V-I cadential formula when there are so many other
possibilities owing to the many ways there are to approach the
dominant. Bach, for example, very often uses ii6/5, and in the
Classical Period, the usual cadence involves tonic 6/4-V-I (the
Schenkerians' view of tonic 6/4 as "not a chord" notwithstanding).
Hah! Funny you should mention that. In jazz, one approach to analysis
groups the iim7 with the V7, so that they are essentially
interchangeable. A progression of Dm7-G7-Cmaj7 (one measure each) can
be reduced to 2 measures of G7 resolving to C, and vice versa. NONE of
the predominants are considered to be anything more than an
ornamentation of the dominant. V7/V and viidim7/V ARE considered to be
functionally different chords, because they contain a leading tone to
the V. Thus the distinction in jazz between sub-dominant function and
ANY pre-dominant.
I have often suspected that jazz musicians as a group are agnostic
Schenkerians. That is, they would probably agree with a lot of what
Schenker had to say if they had it explained to them credibly.
The circle of fifths cascading cadence V/V-V-I belongs to late
19th-early 20th century, including popular musics such as rags and
barbershop quartet harmony - and I would guess that might also include
early jazz and might explain the fact that ii-V-I is so common in jazz
harmony. As I mentioned, I prefer the term "pre-dominant" to
"subdominant function."
It's interesting that you mention the plagal cadence. To me the modern
extension of what might function as plagal would be a chord that
includes the tonic and not the leading tone. Cadences such as vi-I,
bVI-I, A6-I, bVII9-I, and even V11-I (a Debussy favorite) might be
considered as plagal.
Hmm, interesting that you mention some chords that do NOT contain the
4th of the key, which I would have omitted from my list of plagal
resolutions. While I see we are in agreement about the lack of leading
tone being an important characteristic, I hadn't thought of some of the
chords on your list as plagal (which I was restricting to those that
contain the 4th) such as vi, bVI, and A6.
In my classes I classify vi-I as "weak" by virtue of so containing many
common tones, which means that it should generally be restricted to
strong-weak metric stresses, unless a gentle "new-agey" harmonic
movement is needed, which pretty much all but removes it from the list
of effective cadences. If you have any examples of effective cadences
involving direct vi-I, I would be happy to revise my opinions on that.
Any idiom at all is welcome, as I try to make connections between jazz,
classical, and popular/folk/rock as much as possible.
In my little world, bVI-I is fine (also bVImaj7), as is A6-I (or as we
call it in jazz removed from its pre-dominant status, bVI7), but I put
them in their own class for teaching purposes, not in the plagal
category.
Is the inclusion of the tonic in the 2nd last chord important in your
ears for the plagal definition? Would a resolution such as ii-I apply,
even though it doesn't contain the tonic? Or bVII7-I (without the 9th)?
Or bVIImaj7-I? How about bvii7-I (that's Bbm7 in the key of C)? What
about the 4th degree? Do you think it has the importance I am
attributing to it?
Christopher
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