ANALYZING CLASSICAL FORM

AESTHETIC EFFECT OF CADENTIAL EXTENSION

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The techniques of cadential extension just discussed give rise to very different aesthetic effects.
The use of either an IAC or a deceptive cadence provides a temporary
goal to the theme, albeit one that is insufficiently conclusive.We know
that more has to happen, but at least some sense of closure has occurred
(more so with the IAC than with the deceptive cadence).
The evaded cadence makes a considerably more dramatic effect: the
imminent closure of the theme is thwarted at the last second and then
quickly attempted again.The lack of any event representing formal closure, combined with the breaking off of a highly goal-directed process just
before its completion, arouses a powerful expectation for further cadential
action.This effect is particularly well suited to subordinate themes, since
dramatizing the subordinate key is a principal aesthetic objective of the
classical style. Establishing the subordinate key as a foil to the home key is
made all the more effective if the struggle to gain its cadential confirmation is hard-won.
The aesthetic effect of the abandoned cadence is much less dramatic,
since the cadential progression loses its sense of direction, and the music
tends to wander off somewhere else before returning on track toward
another cadence. But the resulting formal loosening created by such
cadential abandonment is pronounced and thus entirely appropriate for
use with subordinate themes.

Expansion of Cadential Function

Cadential function can be enhanced, often markedly so, by means of an
expanded cadential progression (ECP), which supports one or more complete
phrases within the theme. These phrases are typically characterized by distinct
melodic ideas and accompanimental textures.
Such phrases are often exclusively cadential in function, since continuation function is usually featured in the preceding phrase. Now and then, however, a phrase supported by an ECP also contains some continuational elements
(such as fragmentation).
The majority of expanded cadential progressions comprise all four
harmonic functions (initial tonic, pre-dominant, dominant, and final
tonic). Occasionally the preceding continuation concludes with tonic harmony and the cadential phrase then begins directly with a pre-dominant
(see Ex. 12.1, m. 22).
In many simple expanded cadential progressions, no one harmony is
given special emphasis over the others (see Exs. 12.1, mm. 2226; and 12.3,
mm. 3841). Often, however, one of the harmonies leading to the final tonic
is prominently expanded in relation to the others. If the cadential expansion