page_title: Cadence
section_title: Deceptive cadences
hierarchical_section_title: Cadence / Common Practice Period / Deceptive cadences
caption_attribution_description: English: Beethoven Piano Sonata 21, 1st movement, bars 78-84
context_page_description: In Western musical theory, a cadence is "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music. A rhythmic cadence is a characteristic rhythmic pattern that indicates the end of a phrase.
  A cadence is labeled more or less "weak" or "strong" depending on its sense of finality. While cadences are usually classified by specific chord or melodic progressions, the use of such progressions does not necessarily constitute a cadence—there must be a sense of closure, as at the end of a phrase. Harmonic rhythm plays an important part in determining where a cadence occurs.
  Cadences are strong indicators of the tonic or central pitch of a passage or piece. Edward Lowinsky proposed that the cadence was the "cradle of tonality".
context_section_description: In Bach's harmonization of the chorale ‘Wachet auf’, a phrase ending in a deceptive cadence repeats with the cadence changed to an authentic one: 
  The exposition of the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 (The Waldstein Sonata), Op. 53 features a minor key passage where an authentic (perfect) cadence precedes a deceptive (interrupted) one:
  Debussy's Prelude “La fille aux cheveux de lin” (see also above) concludes with a passage featuring a deceptive (interrupted) cadence that progresses, not from V–VI, but from V–IV:
  Some varieties of deceptive cadence that go beyond the usual V–VI pattern lead to some startling effects. For example, a particularly dramatic and abrupt deceptive cadence occurs in the second Presto movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30, Op. 109, bars 97–112, "a striking passage that used to pre-occupy [music] theorists". The music at this point is in B minor, and carries the expectation is that the chord of F sharp (Chord V) will be followed by the tonic chord of B.  However, "Dynamics become softer and softer; dominant and tonic chords of B minor appear isolated on the first beat of a bar, separated by silences: until in sudden fortissimo ... the recapitulation bursts on us in the tonic E minor, the B minor dominants left unresolved."
  An equally startling example occurs in J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540:
  According to Richard Taruskin, in this Toccata, "the already much-delayed resolution is thwarted (m204) by what was the most spectacular 'deceptive cadence' anyone had composed as of the second decade of the eighteenth century ... producing an especially pungent effect." Hermann Keller describes the effect of this cadence as follows: "the splendour of the end with the famous third inversion of the seventh chord, who would not be enthralled by that?"
  Chopin's Fantaisie, Op. 49, composed over a century later in 1841, features a similar harmonic jolt:
  A deceptive cadence is a useful means for extending a musical narrative.  In the closing passage of Bach’s Prelude in F minor from Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the opening theme returns and seems headed towards a possible final resolution on an authentic (perfect) cadence. What the listener may expect is:
  Instead, at bar 60, Bach inserts a deceptive cadence (V–VI in F minor), leading to a lengthy digression of some dozen bars before reaching resolution on the final (V–I) cadence.
  A similar passage occurs at the conclusion of Mozart's Fantasia in D minor, K397:
caption: Beethoven Piano Sonata 21, 1st movement, bars 78–84
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