Interior cadence

What it means

An interior cadence is a cadence that stands not at the end of a piece or section of form but within it. It articulates the course into smaller sections without closing it off. It is thereby for the harmonic form what the comma or the semicolon is for language.

Musical use

Which cadence stands within depends on the task. Most frequent is the half cadence, which stays open on the dominant and forces a continuation — it typically closes the antecedent of a period. Just as usual are imperfect authentic cadences, in which the tonic is indeed reached, but not in full closing force, because for instance the third lies in the upper voice or a chord stands in inversion. Cadences in a subsidiary key belong here too: they articulate the course and at the same time create a new point of reference, without ending the movement.

In vocal music interior cadences follow the text. In the chorale every line closes with a cadence, of which only the last is a full cadence; the others articulate and lead on. In the polyphonic music of the Renaissance such interior closes are called clausulae, and their succession determines the layout of a piece.

The art lies in the gradation: a movement in which every cadence works with equal strength falls apart into single pieces; one in which the closing force increases according to plan appears as a connected form.

Interior cadences articulate the form by setting intermediate goals without ending the movement. In a period the antecedent usually closes with a half cadence, which as an interior cadence prepares the consequent. In longer movements interior cadences often lead into related keys, for instance to the dominant or the relative major/minor. In the chorale they correspond to the line endings, which are as a rule marked by fermatas and form the framework of the setting.

Performance practice

When working out a movement, determine its cadences and rank them by their strength. Shape interior cadences as a breathing pause, not as an end — do not draw the closing sonority back as if everything were over, and keep the tension for the continuation. And save the full closing effect for the actual close.