Does every phrase in music end with a cadence?

Question

I'm just wondering if every phrase in music ends on a Cadence? Much like every sentence in English ends with a period?

I am mainly talking about common music such as pop, rock, classical, traditional, Western European and American folk music, etc.

Answer 1

In some styles of music, music is always or usually divided up into phrases, and these phrases are marked by cadences

In many styles of music, the music can be well conceived of thinking about "phrases", but these phrases are not necessarily marked by a harmonic cadence, but by something rhythmic, the melodic shape, or something else. This may include a harmonic cadence, or may not. This describes most popular music, jazz, rock, electronic music etc.
It's also true of many different traditional musics from all over the world: I suppose it's natural that music might mimic the rhythm and phrasing of speech to some degree.

Other styles of music may not even have clear phrases at all, this is less common, but possible.

Examples:

A lot of jazz is some of the most conversational and "phrased" music in the world. Listen to the middle section of this record (starting at 0:39)

Louis Armstrong - Potato Head Blues (1927)

This to my mind is the example of music where phrasing can be viewed like "sentences" in English, the trumpet literally sounds like it's asking and answering questions. In this sense, while there are very clear "phrases", they are not marked by harmonic cadences but by the shape of the lead line (and also the harmonic rhythm of the band).

On the other hand, here is a piece of music where the phrasing is marked very well by cadences:

Bach Bradenburg Concerto in G BWV 1049 - Allegro

And finally, something in which phrasing is less a part of the music. The music of Steve Reich for example is often less centred around discreet musical "phrases" but more often a continually developing theme, a sort of immersive painting of sound that washes over you.

Steve Reich - 6 Marimbas

Isn't music wonderful!

Answer 2

As with a lot questions on this site, it's a matter of scope: what genre are you talking about?

I'll give the perspective from the common-practice period (what most call "classical" music). It was most famously put forward by William Rothstein in his book Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music:

If there is no cadence, there is no phrase.

As such, the overwhelmingly prevailing view on common-practice music is that every phrase has a cadence at the end of it.

The next question, though, is more complex: what exactly is a cadence?

In common-practice music, the prevailing viewpoint is that a cadence must involve a root-position dominant chord. (This claim is now most attributed to William Caplin.) An inverted dominant moving to tonic, at least in this repertoire, is not sufficient for a cadence, and thus not sufficient for a phrase ending.

But in popular music, cadences can be very different. Indeed, some cadences don't even use a tonic chord, with V moving to IV to mark a phrase boundary.

Answer 3

Only if you define 'phrase' as 'a section of music leading to a cadence'. In a simple piece like a hymn tune this may be the case. A lot of music is rather more free-ranging.