Jumping to Conclusions: The Falling-Third Cadences in Chant, Polyphony, and Recitative

This book concerns the cadences which reach their conclusion by jumping from scale degree 3 down to 1 or to 1-7-1. The chronological history commences in Gregorian Chant, where the falling third is often preceded by scale degree 4, forming the striking figure 4-3-1. The cadences move, along with the borrowed chant melodies, into the polyphony of the late 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Here, melodic figures with the shape of 4-3-1, but on any scale degree, become a significant element of sty...