Bifocal Tonality: An Explanation for Ambiguous Baroque Cadences

Author(s): Jan La Rue

Source: The Journal of Musicology , Vol. 18, No. 2 (Spring 2001), pp. 283-294
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jm.2001.18.2.283

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 Bifocal Tonality: An
Explanation for Ambiguous
Baroque Cadences*

M any harmonic curiosities of the Baroque

period may be dismissed as isolated experiments, since they produce
neither positive musical results nor later inßuences. Now and again,
however, some unusual feature attains a distribution wide enough to
challenge us to Þnd its meaning. One small but intriguing question of
this sort concerns the Þnal cadences of slow movements in sonatas and
concertos. In many cases these movements reach completion in a full
cadence or connect by means of a half-cadence on the dominant to a
following movement. In both situations the intention of the composer
is entirely clear: the full cadence creates an independent movement, 283
while the half-cadence forges a strong link of harmonic tendency be-
tween two movements. Ambiguity arises, however, in the case of the not
inconsiderable number of slow movements, particularly interior move-
ments, which close upon a dominant other than that of the following
movement. Does the composer intend completion or connection?

ABBREVIATIONS
BCM Collegium Musicum, ed. Riemann et al., Breitkopf & Haertel
CE Collected Edition
DdT Denkmaeler deutscher Tonkunst
DTB Denkmaeler der Tonkunst in Bayern
DTOe Denkmaeler der Tonkunst in Oesterreich
HAM Historical Anthology of Music, ed. Davison & Apel
MB Musikgeschichte in Beispielen, ed. Riemann
MKS Kammersonaten des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, ed. Moffat
MMB Monumenta Musicae Belgicae

Volume XVIII ¥ Number 2 ¥ Winter 2001

The Journal of Musicology © 2001 by the Regents of the University of California

* Reprinted from Essays on Music in Honor of Archibald Thompson

Davison (Harvard University, Department of Music, Cambridge,
MA, 1957), with kind permission.

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 t h e j o u r n a l o f m u s ic o lo g y

MMfR Monuments de la Musique française au Temps de la Renaissance,

ed. Expert
NMA Nagels Musik-Archiv
OCM Old Chamber Music, ed. Riemann (Augener)
PSfM Publications de la Société française de Musicologie
VfM Vierteljahrsschrift fuer Musikwissenschaft
WE Wellesley Edition
WIS Instrumentalsaetze vom 16. bis zum Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts, ed.
Wasielewski

The situation distilled to its very essence may be seen in the Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, where two fast movements in G major are
separated by the following enigmatic cadence (Ex. 1):

U
example 1. Bach, Concerto (CE XIX: 59)

# U 12
& c 2 8
# 222
Adagio Allegro

.
2
22

U U2
?# c 22 # 222 B 12
. 8
284
2

G: I IV6 of V of I
VI VI

In the instrumental works of Bach, the V of vi slow movement close,

usually with the phrygian half-tone descent in the bass, occurs too com-
monly to be considered by any means extraordinary. A good example
of the phrygian type can be seen in the Sonata in A major for violin and
harpsichord. The third movement of this sonata is in the relative minor,
ending on its dominant (V of vi in the original major tonality)1 (Ex. 2):

U
example 2. Bach, Sonata (CE IX: 84)

.
##3 #2 2
& # 4 Œ Œ c‰ J
2 Presto
u
Allegro assai Andante un poco

? # ## 3 U
4 ΠΠc # 2
2

1
See also the Sonata in E major, Bach CE IX: 98.

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 b i f o c a l to n a l it y

When the initial key is minor, with interior slow movements typically in
the relative major, the V of vi close produces a stronger tonal feeling for
our modern, dominant-conscious ears. Thus in the Concerto in F minor
for harpsichord, the slow movement in A closes on C, leading back very
naturally to the original minor tonic in the Þnal movement2 (Ex. 3):

j U
example 3. Bach, Concerto (CE XVII: 135)

bb2 U M n
. w n 2 3
&bb 4 c 8
Largo Presto

u
2

? bb2 U U 3
c‰
3 3

bb 4 w 8
3 3

As a check on BachÕs procedures, we turn naturally to HandelÕs

sonatas and concertos, Þnding there a much greater standardization of
practice. The phrygian cadence terminates a larger number of interior 285
slow movements, occurring just as in the Bach examples on V of vi in
the two relationships described above.3 An interesting third pattern
emerges in Handel: some sonatas initially in minor tonality employ the
submediant for the interior slow movement, yet still close on the origi-
nal dominant 4 (Ex. 4):

w.
example 4. Handel, Sonata (CE XXVII: 9)

b3 w. . # .
&b 4 . . 2 . .. 23 î 2. c J
2 2
Andante Adagio Presto

? b3 . 3 w w. w. c
b 4 2. . 2
î î 2 2
# #
#
7 6 5 6 7 6 6
5 4
3

2
Similar patterns may be seen in the concertos for ßute, violin, and harpsichord,
Bach CE XVII: 252, for two harpsichords in c minor, CE XXI/2: 23, and for three harpsi-
chords in d minor, CE XXXI/3: 31.
3
Original major key: Handel CE XXVII: 14, 21, 28 (sonatas); CE XXX: 71, 100,
127 and CE XXI: 20, 31, 71 (concertos). Original minor key: Handel CE XXVII: 31, 96,
139 (sonatas only).
4
See also Handel CE XXVII: 17, 24. For a unique example of a movement in sub-
dominant closing on V of vi, see Bach, Brandenburg Concerto no. 6.

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 t h e j o u r n a l o f m u s ic o lo g y

The following table presents in schematic form these three main types
of cadence relationships:
Original Interior Following

B ww # www
Key Key Cadence Key

w w
Type I C a C
Type II a C a
Type III a F a

The probable source for both Bach and Handel lies in the works of
Corelli. Numerous Corelli sonatas and concertos employ phrygian
closes for interior slow movements, most frequently of Type I. This
practice is already clear in the Trio Sonatas opus I (1683),5 and increases
in frequency with later works. In the relatively rare works in minor mode,
Corelli employs only the Type III relationship, establishing a precedent
for Handel.6 The connection with Handel is particularly direct in other
ways as well: where Bach absorbed merely a principle, applying it rather
freely in his own way, Handel sometimes borrowed a good deal of the
actual practice, especially with regard to melodic line.7
286 Apart from Corelli, Bach, and Handel, the wide distribution of the
V of vi cadence among Baroque composers may be seen from the fol-
lowing sampling:
J. P. Krieger, Trio Sonata (NMA no. 135)
Stoelzel, Trio Sonata (NMA no. 133)
ÑÑÑ, Concerto (DdT XXX: 252)
Buxtehude, Sonata a Due op. I no. 7 (DdT XI: 73)
Telemann, Quatuor (Tafelmusik I, DdT LXIÐLXII: 33)
ÑÑÑ, Conclusion (Tafelmusik II, DdT LXIÐLXII: 172)
ÑÑÑ, Concert Ñ (Tafelmusik III, DdT LXIÐLXII: 214)
Bella, Sonata (NMA no. 83)
A. Scarlatti, Concerto Grosso (HAM no. 260)
Mascitti, Sonata (MKS no. 7)
Marcello, Cello Sonata in G (Schott)
Abaco, Sonatas op. I nos. 6, 11 (DTB I: 30, 46)
ÑÑÑ, Sonatas op. I nos. 1, 10 (DTB IX/1: 7, 41)
ÑÑÑ, Trio Sonata op. III no. 1 (DTB IX/1: 112)
Vivaldi, Concerto (CE no. 6)
Porpora, Sinfonia da Camera op. II no. 4 (BCM no. 23)
SenaillŽ , Sonata (MKS no. 11)
Leclair, Trio Sonata in B (Lengnick)

5
Corelli CE 32, 69.
6
Corelli CE 202, 298. Compare also CE 180.
7
Compare Corelli CE 258Ð259 with Handel CE XXVII: 11, 24, and Corelli CE 324
with Handel CE XXVII: 3, 10.

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 b i f o c a l to n a l it y

The absence of Purcell from this list may come as a slight surprise. Al-
though Italian models were available to Purcell, we must not underesti-
mate the strong polyphonic survivals in the English tradition, main-
tained by composers such as Jenkins and Locke. Perhaps because of
this background, PurcellÕs approach to harmony seems to be more lin-
ear than structural; and his daring modulations within the course of a
given movement are balanced by a notable reluctance to venture away
from the original tonic in arranging the fundamental key sequence of
movements in a sonata. As a speculation on precedents for PurcellÕs
conservatism, it may be worth noting that William Young, despite his
exposure to continental styles during his residence in Munich, shows a
similar exceptional fondness for the tonic key in the interior move-
ments of his sonatas (1653).
As we move from Baroque to Classical styles, the incidence of the V
of vi cadence decreases markedly, undoubtedly resulting from the in-
creased deÞnition of tonality as a structural element. Thus such exam-
ples as may be found in G. M. Monn, Holzbauer, Haydn, Mozart, and
Schubert are highly exceptional.8 Although Vivaldi was included in
the Baroque list, the notable rarity of connective cadences in his works
(as compared with Bach and Handel) is signiÞcant of his almost pre- 287
classical handling of problems in form and tonality. Of the one-hundred-
fifty instrumental works (mainly concertos) thus far issued in his col-
lected edition, only fourteen employ connective cadences between
movements.9 The fact that four of these are on V of vi again conÞrms
the structural importance of this chord.
In view of BeethovenÕs preoccupation with third relationships in
tonal planning both within and between movements, one might expect
frequent appearances of the V of vi to I progression. The present search,
however, has failed to uncover a single example of a structurally connec-
tive use of this progression in his music. As a sample of BeethovenÕs atti-
tude, it is instructive to look at the two rondos in G, opus 51 no. 2 and
opus 129 (a Capriccio), both containing middle sections in E. There are
obvious opportunities for the progression in preparing a return on the
dominant of E, then going directly to G ;10 yet in both cases Beethoven
makes a normal dominant preparation on D. His consistent avoidance
suggests that the descending third progression lacks sufÞcient direc-
tional force to meet his intense requirements for connective chords.
8
Monn, Symphonia a Quattro (DTOe XIX/2: 39); Holzbauer, Sinfonia a 10, The Peri-
odical no. 29 (DTB VII/2: 129); Haydn, Symphony No. 103 (introduction); Mozart, Phan-
tasie fuer eine Orgelwalze, K. 608; Schubert, Adagio und Rondo (piano, violin, viola, cello),
1816.
9
Vivaldi connectives: CE nos. 6, 12, 15, 21, 22, 33, 36, 74, 78, 80, 114, 128, 129,
150 (those employing V of vi are in italics).
10
A common Haydn procedure: see Symphony no. 85, Þrst movement, preparation
for recapitulation.

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 t h e j o u r n a l o f m u s ic o lo g y

Having established in a general way the locale of the V of vi ca-

dences, it remains to discover a rationale. As we have already noted, the
effect of these cadences is ambiguous from a tonal point of view. It
would seem logical, therefore, to begin by seeking a modal explana-
tion. Is it possible, for example, that in some atavistic way the V of vi
chord, as a result of its position on the third degree, was regarded as a
phrygian Þnal by baroque composers? Such strange survivals are not
unknown in music history, particularly in the case of time signatures;
but they seem usually to result from force of habit ingrained by a
universally accepted convention. Let us survey brießy the extent of
phrygian conventions.
Making some preparatory searches in the Renaissance, it is interest-
ing to note that Palestrina and Victoria in third and fourth mode set-
tings of the MagniŽcat employ both full and plagal cadences, with only a
small minority of phrygian closes.11 This general attitude continues
when transferred to organ by composers like Scheidt and Pachelbel,
whose MagniŽcat versets and fugues in third and fourth modes each in-
clude only one phrygian cadence.1 2
It is possible that the variable terminations characteristic of
288 psalmodic practice reduce the composersÕ feeling for typical mode end-
ings in MagniŽcat verses. Yet in the case of hymns directly based on un-
varying phrygian chants such as Doctor egregie or Exsultet, Palestrina felt
no need to use phrygian cadences.1 3 VictoriaÕs hymns, on the other
hand, more frequently employ the typical third mode close, perhaps
because of his generally more literal and obvious use of the plainsong
cantus.1 4 Or is it because of his general predilection for the color of
this cadence? The expressive use of the half-tone progression in many
non-phrygian pieces, such as the response, O vos omnes,15 suggests the
coloristic explanation. Where the polyphonic setting does not directly
employ a cantus, any original connection of the text with a phrygian
melody seems to have no inßuence on Victoria. Thus the well-known
responses O magnum mysterium and Ecce quomodo moritur 16 (third and
fourth mode in plainsong) are set by Victoria with no hint of their
phrygian antecedents.

11
Of Þfty-two Palestrina settings, only three are phrygian (Palestrina CE ed. Haberl
XXVII: 57, 108, 184). Of twenty-two Victoria settings, only two use phrygian cadences
(Victoria CE III: 29, 35).
12
Scheidt DdT I: 173; Pachelbel DTOe VIII/2: 48. Two other Pachelbel fugues use
modal (DÐE) cadences: DTOe VIII/2: 49, 54.
13
Palestrina CE VIII: 63, 98.
14
Victoria CE V: 45, 54, 72.
15
Victoria CE V: 189.
16
Victoria CE I: 11 and CE V: 191.

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 b i f o c a l to n a l it y

Divergent practices among composers should not surprise us when

Glareanus himself, the great codiÞer of modal theory, gives us no solid
precedent for a single characteristic phrygian cadence. His three exam-
ples of hypo-phrygian all contain the characteristic descending second
in the tenor line, as would be expected. The harmonic effect, however,
is by no means consistent, since in the Þrst example the bass ap-
proaches the unison with the tenorÕs Þnal E through C, giving a more
unsettled effect than the regular A–E plagal cadence of the second and
third examples.17 The phrygian examples show even more variation:
the Þrst two short examples are in two parts, neither containing the
half-tone cadences, while the third example contains the F–E progres-
sion in the bass rather than in the tenor.18 To increase the confusion
Glareanus also cites what he calls a hyper- aeolian example containing a
cadence similar to the third phrygian example.1 9
Since the main line of tradition does not appear very clear, it is
worthwhile to examine some offshoots. One might think that composers
who took the trouble to Þght the Glarean tradition by setting up new
systems of their own would also take special pains to clarify their think-
ing on important matters such as cadences. Such is not the case, how-
ever, with Claude Le Jeune, who begins his modal numbering system 289
with ionian even while borrowing his very title from Glareanus. Since
the modern reprint of his Dodecacorde extends only to the third mode
(hypo-dorian in his system) we must look to the Octonaires (1606), where
his Þfth- and sixth-mode pieces (phrygian and hypo-phrygian) show
only one typical phrygian cadence 20 as against Þve plagal cadences.
Similarly Charles Guillet, the Belgian organist, employs a new nomen-
clature (probably stimulated by ZarlinoÕs renumbering of the modes)
in which the E–B modes are ÒLydienÓ and Òsous-LydienÓ; but in his two
fantasies (1610) illustrating these modes, one cadence is F–E with a pla-
gal appoggiatura on the Þnal chord, the second is an ordinary plagal
cadence.21 Most confused of all is Denis GaultierÕs Rhétorique des Dieux,
where the lydian and hypo-lydian are clearly shown as E and B modes in
the accompanying illustrations of Bosse, but GaultierÕs Òsous-lydienÓ is
transposed for lute purposes to G major, with no modal characteristics
whatsoever, and ÒlydienÓ is omitted entirely from the musical examples.22

17
Glareani Dodecachordon, tr. P. Bohn, Publikationen der Gesellschaft fuer Musikforschung
XVI (1888): 215, 221, 227.
18
Ibid., 271, 278.
19
Ibid., 229.
20
MMfR I: 61.
21
MMB IV: 13, 15.
22
Oskar Fleischer, Denis Gaultier, VfM II (1886): 136 and two following plates; A.
Tessier, La Rhétorique des Dieux, Publications de la Société française de Musicologie VI: plates 41,
43; VII: 28.

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 t h e j o u r n a l o f m u s ic o lo g y

Since keyboard works tend to be arranged in categories by mode

more often than vocal works, the search for a phrygian tradition was
concentrated on the former, extending through all of the chief monu-
mental and collected editions, together with various performing edi-
tions of works in the seventeenth century. Without dragging the reader
through unnecessary statistical detail, with regard to works classiÞed as
phrygian or hypo-phrygian, modes three or four, or based on E or on
evident transpositions,2 3 the following conclusions may be drawn: most
phrygian pieces end with plagal cadences (iv/IV to i/I ); and while the
descending half-tone terminal cadence is reserved for phrygian, it oc-
curs in less than twenty per cent of phrygian pieces. A still smaller
percentage end with full cadences. A neat capsule of the situation may
be seen in the Octi Tonium Novum Organicum (1696) of Murschhauser,
where all three types of cadences occur in the same series of short
phrygian pieces.24
It is evident from this brief review of earlier music that the Corelli-
Bach-Handel use of phrygian cadences is actually more consistent than
anything to be found in nominally phrygian pieces. From this fact
two conclusions emerge: Þrst, it seems unlikely that baroque usage is
290 prompted by any survival of modal thinking; second, as a result we may
safely consider the phrygian cadence as a connective device, since it was
only by a modal interpretation that it could be considered terminal.
We can study the background of the connective cadence in early
Baroque by examining the structurally analogous point of interior re-
peats in dance forms. The dance collections of Franck (1603) and Hauss-
mann (1602Ð04) show such variety in harmonic schemes that no par-
ticular conclusions can be drawn beyond pointing out that descending
third relationships are common. In the following examples the letters
indicate chords at beginnings and ends of sections rather than stabi-
lized key areas:

FF::cD::B F Franck, Pavana (DdT XVI: 23)

B D::gD::B G Franck, Gagliarda (DdT XVI: 30)
gD::B G::DF::dG Haussmann, Intrada (DdT XVI: 138)

By the time of PeurlÕs Neue Paduan (1611), ScheinÕs Banchetto Musicale

(1617) and PoschÕs Musikalische Tafelfreude (1621), key schemes are al-
ready less haphazard, centering more about relative majors and minors
and their dominants, with third relationships still much in evidence:

23
See for example HasslerÕs Ricercar on A with one ßat, DTB IV/2: 77.
24
DTB XVIII: 85Ð89.

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 b i f o c a l to n a l it y

FF::FA::FF Peurl, Intrada (DTOe XXXVI/2: 15)

Schein, Padouana (CE I: 186)
GG::DD::B G Posch, Paduana (DTOe XXXVI/2: 102)
dD::dA::FD Posch, Gagliarda (DTOe XXXVI/2: 93)

If we follow this situation into later suite composers, it becomes clear

that our descending third progression must have seemed entirely usual
to Baroque ears:

bF ::Db Froberger, Sarabande (DTOe VI/2: 78)

g D : : B g(G) Chambonni res, Gigue (CE 102)
Froberger, Allemande, Courante (DTOe VI/2:
51Ð52)
Pachelbel, Courant (DTB II/1: 82)
gG::DD::B G Jenkins, Ayre (WE I: 101Ð102)

The progression was apparently so normal that even in reverse it was 291
not considered disruptive:25

FF::AG::CF Schein, Gagliarda (CE I: 187)

eG::Be Froberger, Sarabande (DTOe VI/2: 70)
aC::Ea Pachelbel, Gavott (DTB II/1: 89)

This whole harmonic climate is conveniently precipitated in the pro-

gressions of the romanesca ground bass pattern current in early Baroque
music:26

B F g D (: :) B F g (C, E ) D g(G)

The following works, all containing the descending third relationship

between sections or movements, furnish some Þnal links in understand-
ing the development leading up to Corelli:

S. Rossi, Sonata a 3, 1642 (OCM 120)

Neri, Sonata a 4, 1644 (MB no. 98)

Compare Biber, Sonata VIII, DTOe V/2: 71.

25

See settings of the romanesca by S. Rossi (1613) and Landi (1620) in Riemann,
26

Handbuch der Musikgeschichte II/2: 88Ð92; Biagio Marini (1620) and Frescobaldi (1637) in
HAM nos. 192, 199; Monteverdi CE VII: 152 (1641).

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 t h e j o u r n a l o f m u s ic o lo g y

Legrenzi, Sonata La Torriana, 1655 (MB no. 102)

ÑÑÑ, Sonata a 3 (d minor), 1655 (WIS no. 23)
Rosenmueller, Lamentationes Jeremiae (NMA nos. 27Ð28)27
Vitali, Sonata La Graziani, 1669 (HAM no. 245)
Legrenzi, Sonata La Buscha, 1671 (HAM no. 220)
Furchheim, Sonata a 5, 1674 (BCM no. 60)

From the above investigation it is clear that in the practice of

Baroque composers V of vi frequently functions as alternate for the
dominant. As an interpretation of this fact we may observe that there is
a half-way station in the development between modality and tonality, a
point of bifocal tonality combining major and relative minor to form a
broader but not indeÞnite harmonic arena. If we bear in mind this con-
cept of dual tonics and dominants, there is no ambiguity in the connec-
tive use of V of vi: for the Baroque ear it is a full-ranking dominant sub-
stitute and therefore can form a logical and satisfying link between
movements in a variety of tonal relationships. Certain exceptional but
signiÞcant cases show V of vi invading even that most central of domi-
nant functions, the connection of tonic areas. Thus in a sonata of Fux
292 and a concerto of Abaco, consecutive movements in tonic are con-
nected not by V, but by V of vi.2 8
The idea of bifocal tonality also furnishes an explanation for the
curiously migratory nature of much baroque harmony: moving in a
dual area considerably larger than any single tonality, it focuses now on
major, now on relative minor. Although other third relationships and
various exceptions appear from time to time,29 the major-relative minor
axis constitutes the main bifocal framework. In each case the secondary
tonality, though partly out of focus, is still very much in view; and only
the slightest inßection is required to change the focus. This delicate
balance is clearly shown in the romanesca harmonies cited above, and in
a more advanced form in the example below from Corelli (Ex. 5).
We certainly cannot consider this example as modal: it has a sense
of direction utterly different from the itinerant harmony of the Renais-
sance. On the other hand, from the point of view of classical tonality it
appears inconsistent and disorganized, since beginning and end are in
different keys. Such movements are by no means uncommon in middle

27
The limited scope of the present investigation cannot include vocal music. This
single example may serve to remind us that the harmonic phenomena under discussion
are not restricted to instrumental forms.
28
DTOe 85: 10Ð11; DTB I: 166.
29
See footnotes 4 and 6; Purcell CE V: 13, 68; Abaco DTB I: 102, 156.

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 b i f o c a l to n a l it y

j
example 5. Corelli, Sonata (CE, p. 43)

..
&c #2
2
J
Grave

2 2 2 2

?c # 2 #
2
6 6 6 6 # 5 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 5 3
4

& 2 2 #
2 2
2 2 2 2 2 2

? 2 2 2
9 8 5 3 9 8 7 5 6 6 6 6 # 5 4 6 7 6

Œ
4 3 6 5 5 5 2

. j 6 j
& 2 2 8
2 2
Allegro
293

?2 6 .
2 8 J
7 6 7 7 6 6 6 6 7 6 5 6 6 5 3 6
4

and even late Baroque.30 The most famous example is undoubtedly the
Bach CruciŽxus from the B Minor Mass, which closes peacefully in G af-
ter the poignant harmonies of the E minor ground bass. It is not neces-
sary to give this modulation a pictorial explanation (Òsepultus estÓ), for
as we have seen, it Þts easily into an established practice. An extreme
extension of this same type of enlarged harmonic thinking may be seen
in the very Þrst concerto grosso of Handel, in which the opening move-
ment in B is followed by two movements in G minor.31
In understanding these examples, neither the modal nor the Classi-
cal approach helps, for we are dealing with a middle ground. It is

30
Corelli CE 20, 53, 180; Purcell CE VII: 17, 72; Handel CE XXVII: 4, 11, 17; Vi-
valdi CE 5, 33, 49, 50.
31
Handel CE XXI: 3.

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 t h e j o u r n a l o f m u s ic o lo g y

important to stress that this middle ground is not disorganized, but on

the contrary, quite highly organized according to its own characteristic
patterns of harmonic migration between dual tonal objectives. While
we have not reached the directional unity of the Classical tonic-dominant
relation, a satisfying artistic framework results from the Baroque oppo-
sition of major and relative minor as peer tonalities.
A Þnal contribution of the bifocal analysis lies in the realm of form.
Classical tonal analysis often misconstrues the fundamental motion of
baroque music, since it requires frequent modulations to keep abreast
of the shifts in harmonic focus. Such modulations cut the music into
small pieces, contradicting the clear evidence of broader continuity in
bass line, rhythmic ßow, and melodic extension. By applying the bifocal
principle, the essential harmonic unity of large areas becomes appar-
ent. The harmonic span thus matches the dimension of other musical
elements, and we achieve a breadth of view appropriate to the grandeur
of the Baroque.

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