ANALYZING CLASSICAL FORM

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Example 5.27: the theme concludes with a PAC in m. 20. What follows is a closing
section consisting of a repeated 4-m. codetta. The codetta, however, is itself closed
with a clear cadential progression.
Within the limited scope of the codettas, these cadential figures have a genuine cadential function. From the perspective of the theme as a whole, however,
they participate within a broader postcadential function and thus cannot be considered true cadences.

A tip on analytical notation: in order to distinguish cadences of limited

scope from regular cadences used for thematic closure, the cadential abbreviation is placed in parentheses, rather than in a box. (Compare Ex. 5.27, mm. 24
and 28 to m. 20.)

Boundary Process: Melodic Overlap

In Chapter 3, we learned about the boundary processes of lead-in and elision.
Another kind of boundary process arises now and then in closing sections:
melodic overlap. (I also discuss this boundary process in connection with other
formal contexts as appropriate.)
Melodic overlap resembles elision in that the goal of the melody of one
group occurs on the downbeat beginning the next group. Unlike elision, however, we do not have the impression that the entire measure defined by this
downbeat belongs to the prior group. In other words, the measure prior to the
melodic overlap is the final measure of the group, while the moment of melodic
overlap represents essentially the beginning of the next group.
Example 5.7: as discussed above, the theme concludes with a PAC in m. 9. This bar
also sees the beginning of a closing section made up of codettas. In other words,
we can recognize a clear sense of elision between the end of the theme and the
beginning of the closing section.
But what are the boundaries of these codettas? Beginning on the downbeat of m.
10, we clearly hear that the codetta of m. 9 starts to be repeated. But unlike that earlier
moment, we do not necessarily have the impression of a genuine elision of codettas. In
other words, we do not hear that the first codetta really includes the whole of m. 10.
Nonetheless, there is a distinct sense that the melody of the first codetta
overlaps with that of the second codetta (as shown by the overlapping brackets).
A similar melodic overlap occurs on the downbeat of m. 11, when a new, shorter
codetta begins and is repeated three times.
Example 5.16: melodic overlap is well illustrated by this closing section. Each of
the codettas making up the section begins and ends on the tonic scale degree,
thus creating a clear melodic overlap. To be sure, the closing section elides with
the end of the theme; that is, the theme concludes in m. 32, which is simultaneously the first bar of the closing section. But after that, there is no further elision,
just melodic overlaps. We hear the first two codettas as 1-m. units, followed by a
half-bar codetta, whose repetition is expanded to cover a full bar.