Period

Phrase: A unit of musical meaning that ends with a cadence.

Cadence: An arrival at a point of relative repose.
Period: A coherent thematic and harmonic statement that consists of two or more phrases.
whose final cadence in a period resolves all tensions left unresolved by earlier cadences within
the period.

Where do you find periods? Periods tend to be a way of combining phrases to create
expository statements; they create a sense of thematic utterance. Passages that are more
transitional, or developmental, do not typically exhibit periodic construction. Periods are easiest
to find in the music of the Classical period, but they occur in Baroque and Romantic music, and
20th and 21st century popular music, as well. Typically, a period consists of a passage that ends in
a relatively weak cadence followed by a passage ending in a strong cadence that resolves the
tensions set up by the former. The end of a period tends also to be the end of a complex musical
idea.

The first phrase (mm. 1-4) of the Mozart theme given below reaches a half cadence (HC) that
temporarily halts forward momentum; mm. 5-8 present a varied repetition of mm. 1-4, but lead to
a perfect authentic cadence (PAC) that resolves the tensions of m. 4’s cadential interruption.

Types of Period
Most periods consist of a pair of phrases; we will focus on those. Periods are classified by
thematic type and harmonic trajectory.
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1. Thematic types of period:

Parallel: A parallel period consists of two similar phrases, i.e. phrases that begin the same way;
there is a close correspondence between the first measures of each phrase, their second measures,
etc., up to some point where, due to the fact that they end with different types of cadences, they
diverge. Parallel periods are typically represented analytically as a a’; the prime symbol (‘)
signals that the phrases end with different types of cadence.
Contrasting: A contrasting period consists of two dissimilar, or contrasting, phrases, which
complement each other and form a coherent thematic unit. Unlike a parallel period, there is no
clear correspondence between matching measures of the two component phrases. Contrasting
periods are typically represented analytically as a b.

2. Harmonic trajectories:
Sectional: A period whose harmonic trajectory moves away from an initial tonic and back again
twice. Its antecedent phrase ends with without melodic closure, and thus with an IAC; its
consequent phrase brings melodic closure, thus ending with a PAC.
Antecedent Consequent
I – V – I* (IAC) I – V – I† (PAC)
(* ends w/ 3 or 5 in sop.) († ends w/ 1 in sop.)

Interrupted: A period whose harmonic trajectory moves from initial tonic to a structural
dominant, then repeats the same trajectory, the second time through resolving the structural
dominant to tonic. An interrupted period’s antecedent phrase thus ends with a HC, its consequent
phrase with a PAC.
Antecedent Consequent
I – V (HC) || I – V – I (PAC)

Continuous: A period whose harmonic trajectory as a whole expresses a single harmonic

motion, from initial tonic through pre-dominant and dominant harmonies and back to tonic. The
consequent phrase usually starts, therefore, on a non-tonic harmony (a pre-dominant or a
continuation of the dominant).
Antecedent Consequent
I – V (HC) || (PD – ) V – I (PAC)
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Note that the preceding three harmonic trajectories describe non-modulating periods, i.e.
periods that remain in the home key.
Progressive: A period whose harmonic trajectory moves from its initial tonic to a new,
tonicized scale degree. The most typical kind of progressive period begins with an antecedent
phrase that leads to a half cadence in the home key, and ends with a consequent phrase that leads
to a PAC in either V (if the period begins in a major key), v or III (the latter two options occur
when the period begins in a minor key).
Antecedent Consequent
I – V (I: HC) || àV: V – I (PAC)
i – V/III (III: HC) à III: V – I (PAC)
i – V/v (v: HC) à v: V – i (PAC)

Here is a summary of the four harmonic types of period:

Sectional Both phrases end with authentic cadence; harmonic but no melodic closure at
end of 1st phrase
Interrupted 1st phrase ends with HC
Continuous 1st phrase ends with HC; 2nd phrase begins with non-tonic harmony
Progressive 2nd phrase ends with PAC in non-tonic key.

List of all possible two-phrase period types:

Parallel Sectional (PSP) Contrasting Sectional (CSP)
Parallel Interrupted (PIP) Contrasting Interrupted (CIP)
Parallel Continuous (PCP) Contrasting Continuous (CCP)
Parallel Progressive (PPP) Contrasting Progressive (CPP)

The Double Period

A more elaborate form of period commonly found in Classical-period works is the double
period. It consists of four phrases arranged to form a double symmetry. Most double periods

follow the layout a b a b’. Usually an IAC ends each antecedent phrase (i.e. each a phrase),
while an interrupted trajectory relates the two consequent phrases (i.e. the b phrase ends with a

HC, the b’ phrase with a PAC). Mozart is very fond of using double periods as the secondary

themes of his sonata-form movements.

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Antecedent Consequent
a IAC b HC a IAC b’ PAC

The Phrases that Make Up a Period

The component phrases of a period are often compared to a verbal phrase that ends with a
question mark, or semicolon, followed by one that ends with a period. The first phrase’s question,
or conditional phrase, is answered by the declaratory full stop of the second phrase. The phrases
of a period are thus often referred to as antecedent and consequent phrases (see diagrams
above).
Themes that are not periods: the sentence
Compare the structure of a phrase within a period to that of a sentence, which consists of two
varied statements of a basic idea (or b.i.) followed by a continuation/cadential formula. The
sentence is characterized by the durational proportions 1:1:2, where 1 = duration of b.i., 2 =
duration of continuation+cadence. Because there is a single cadence at the end of each sentence,
the sentence is a type of phrase, not a type of period.

Other kinds of theme that are not constructed according to the rules governing the structure of
periods include
•Single phrase: A standard four-bar phrase or irregular phrase of other length, with or without an
internal phrase expansion or a post-cadential phrase extension, is often found in slow
movements or works of a light character serving as a main theme.
Mozart, Piano Sonata in C, K. 279, ii
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•Phrase group: A theme may comprise two or more phrases that are linked in a less tightly-knit
fashion than would be the case for a period. Consider the opening theme to Mozart, Eine kleine
Nachtmusik K. 525, first movement, for a well-known example—this theme is a sort of chain of
several disparate ideas, none of which ends with a proper cadence!

Periods and the theory of formal function

William Caplin (see citation below) characterizes the parts of themes according to their apparent
function within the local and global context they inhabit. The basic idea (b.i.), continuation, and
cadential functions found within a sentence are useful in analyzing periods and other theme types
as well. Another Caplinian formal function is the contrasting idea (c.i.), which he hears at the start
of the b phrases of each double period. Another theorist, Janet Schmalfeldt, uses the arrow
symbol (=>) to indicate a musical idea that changes its formal (or harmonic) function, e.g. a
cadential idea that is transformed via extension or evasion of cadence into a continuation
function.
Periods: Points of Style
•The most characteristic form of period is eight measures long and consists of a four-measure
antecedent phrase followed by a four-measure consequent phrase.
•In order to be considered a parallel period, for how long does the consequent need to correspond
to the antecedent? This depends on style and context; in a Classical eight-measure parallel period,
the first two or three measures usually correspond closely. In music of the Romantic period, a
sense of parallel construction may be imparted more subtly, with the correspondence continuing
only through the first measure or so. The point at which the correspondences ceases is often
called the crux—it’s like a crossroads, a structural point of divergence of the antecedent from the
consequent.

SOURCES:
William E. Caplin, Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Function for the Instrumental Music of
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (Oxford University Press, 1998).
Douglass Green, Form in Tonal Music, 2nd edition (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1979).
Steven G. Laitz, The Complete Musician: An Integrated Approach to Tonal Theory, Analysis, and
Listening, 3rd edition (Oxford University Press, 2012).
Janet Schmalfeldt, In the Process of Becoming: Analytic and Philosophical Perspectives on Form
in Early Nineteenth-Century Music (Oxford University Press, 2011).