-1

I see an unusual cadence in the end of Debussy's Prelude of Pour le Piano. It is v7 - i in A minor. Is there an actual name for this?

enter image description here

(Chord Progression: Fmaj7 - Abaug7 - Gaug7 - C9 - Em7 - Am)

|improve this question
  • Would Ab7+ be a more apposite name? To augment a 7th takes it to the octave. And G would have D# if it was an aug, chord. – Tim Mar 18 '19 at 8:13
  • It would be a "pun" of the Gaug7 chord. I wrote it as Gaug7 since it resolves to C9. – user53472 Mar 18 '19 at 10:34
  • I dunno, @Tim, I always wrote augmented sevenths as C+7 (of course, not to be confused with Cadd9). – user45266 Mar 18 '19 at 17:05
  • My point is that it's the 5th that's augmented, not the 7th. G7+ is spelled G B D# F. – Tim Mar 18 '19 at 18:24
4

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, composers experimented with many deviant final cadences. Most of them can be classed as variants of the existing formulas (authentic and plagal). This one is a variant of the authentic cadence, as I'm sure you noticed.

|improve this answer
  • Is it a PAC or IAC? – user53472 Mar 18 '19 at 23:18
  • 3
    The normal criteria for a PAC are that the chords are in root position and the tonic is in the melody. Both are true here, but since this is a minor dominant, it's debatable. The notion of a PAC precedes this kind of experimentation. – Max Apr 29 '19 at 6:06

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy