Between Half and Perfect Cadences

Abstract

This article explores Dvořák’s various uses of the period with modulating antecedent. Whereas current-day form theory considers antecedent-consequent periods to consist of two phrases whose cadential strengths result from differentiated cadences, such as half cadence (HC) to perfect authentic cadence (PAC), some periods by Dvořák use PACs to close both halves, one in a foreign key and another in the home key. This alternate strategy relies on key relationships rather than cadential hierarchies to establish the conventional arrangement of weak to strong cadences. Drawing on compositions that deploy this theme variant, this article enlists form-functional analysis, voice-leading analysis, and perspectives from Reicha’s Treatise on Melody (1814) to raise questions about tonal trajectories and cadential hierarchies that are associated with modulating antecedents. Investigation of this phrase type leads to new ways of understanding antecedent-consequent periods in the nineteenth century while also providing ways to understand modulations within otherwise tight-knit theme types in music by Dvořák and other composers from the same time period.