Following a brief introductory chapter on the general nature of closure, part 1 examines the classical cadence by first laying out a series of foundational concepts of cadence that inform the rest of the study. It then defines the three basic cadence types—PAC, IAC, and HC—as harmonic-melodic schemata. Along the way, it considers how promised cadences can fail to be realized by various deviation techniques (deception, evasion, and abandonment) and details how cadential expansion can significantly loosen the formal organization of thematic units.

Part 2 broadens the stylistic horizon in order to consider how formal closure is achieved in the style periods of the high baroque, the galant, the early Romantic, and the mid-to-late nineteenth century. It shows how specific compositional procedures characteristic of a given style (e.g., the baroque use of uniform surface and harmonic rhythms; circularity of form in early Romantic works, and the growing emphasis on subdominant harmonies in later nineteenth-century compositions) impact the ways in which closure is achieve by cadential, but also noncadential, means

Highlights of the book include:

·a new theory of cadential melody

·an examination of impressive expanded cadential progressions in Beethoven’s symphonies

·a study of cadence in Bach’s fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier

·a set of analytical notes to all of Chopin’s Preludes, Op. 28

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© WILLIAM CAPLIN 2025