Deceptive Cadence and an Applied Dominant in an E-Minor Chorale Phrase
An eight-bar chorale phrase in E minor, 4/4, four voices, has one chord per bar. The bass and chords are: b.1 E, i (E–G–B); b.2 D-sharp, V6 (D-sharp–F-sharp–B); b.3 E, i; b.4 A, iv (A–C–E); b.5 F-sharp, V7/V (F-sharp–A-sharp–C-sharp–E); b.6 B, V7 (B–D-sharp–F-sharp–A); b.7 C, VI (C–E–G); b.8 G, i6 (G–B–E). The soprano in b.6–8 is F-sharp–E–E, and the alto in b.7–8 is G–G. The text phrase ends after b.8, but the harmony continues in the next phrase. A student labels b.5 as 'V/V', b.6–7 as a 'deceptive cadence', and b.7 as 'a modulation to C major'. The teacher asks for a defense of each label, with attention to the leading tone and to the function of b.5.
1. Give a complete Roman-numeral analysis of bb.1–8 and identify the cadence type at b.6–7. Explain why b.5 is labeled V7/V rather than a modulation to B minor.
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Roman numerals: i – V6 – i – iv – V7/V – V7 – VI – i6. The cadence at b.6–7 is a deceptive cadence in E minor: V7 resolves to VI rather than to i. The bass moves B–C, and the leading tone D-sharp resolves upward to E in an inner voice, so the dominant function is real even though the expected tonic is denied.
b.5 is V7/V, not a tonicization of B minor. F-sharp–A-sharp–C-sharp–E is the applied dominant seventh of B, but b.6 is B major with D-sharp, which functions as V of E minor, not as a B-minor tonic. A modulation to B minor would require a cadence in B minor and a stable B-minor tonic, neither of which occurs. The A-sharp is a local leading tone to B; it does not establish a new key.
2. Evaluate the claim that b.7 is a modulation to C major. What would the score need to show for that claim to be stronger?
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b.7 is better analyzed as VI in E minor, the deceptive resolution of V. The chord C–E–G is diatonic to E minor, and the phrase immediately returns to i6 at b.8 with E in the soprano and G in the alto. There is no cadence in C major, no dominant preparation of C major, and no sustained confirmation of C as a tonic.
For a stronger modulation claim, the passage would need a cadential arrival in C major, ideally a PAC with G major (V of C) containing B natural as leading tone, followed by continuation in C major rather than a quick return to E minor. A single VI chord after V is a standard deceptive gesture, not a modulation.