Re2: klezmer melodic contours 5

[Matt Jaffey <mjaffey2...>]

I wrote:
<<On his instructional video, Andy Statman pointed out the similarity of
this ending to the endings of symphonic works in (I believe he said) the
18th century, and speculated that imitation of the symphonic works may have
been the source.>>

Alex Singer wrote:
<<..a I V I chord progression.  The chord progression V I is referred to as
a perfect cadence, and was used as an ending for all Western Classical music
since the 1600's, symphonic or otherwise.>>

Joshua Horowitz wrote:
<<Each era of classical music has its own sets of cadences which are
specific to it and help define its style. I don't know of any cadences from
18th century symphonies which use a chromatic line, in that way though. It
seems to be a salon music cadence, and is too banal for the hard-core *style
galant* The D-A-D melody cadence is so common as a melodic cadence in
classical music that it hardly deserves mention, though.>>
~~~~~~~~~~~

To be fair to Andy Statman, he attributed the speculation to an unnamed
friend. And in context, Andy, if not his friend, was considering the
chromatic line to be part of the cadence.

Others have written on this thread pointing out the utility of the cadence
for ending at a moments notice when the functional use of the music required
it. While there is an obvious need for such a capability at weddings and
such, I wonder if the 78 rpm recording medium played an important role in
cementing the cadence onto every piece. i.e. the 3 to 3 1/2 min limitation
of recording time could have kept the band leader's eye glued to a clock,
and if things got too close, he could have sped everyone up to an abrupt
cadence. Thus, not only the notes, but the style of delivery as well, might
have been tied up with the only recorded evidence that we have. This is
purely speculative, so if anyone wants to rip it apart, go right ahead.

Matt

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