Corelli cadence

The Corelli cadence, or Corelli clash, named for its association with the violin music of the Corelli school, is a cadence characterized by a major and/or minor second clash between the tonic and the leading-tone or the tonic and supertonic. The cadence is found as early as 1634 in Steffano Landi's Il Sant'Alessio^[1] whereas Corelli was born in 1653. It has been described as cliché.^[2]

$\fixed c' { \omit Staff.TimeSignature \partial 2 << { a4. g8 2. } \\ { g4. fis8 g4 2 } >> }$

Corelli clash in a cadence on G^[1]

A Corelli clash in a cadence on A

This is created by the voice leading concerns of modal music, specifically the use of anticipation during cadences.^[3] The English cadence is another "clash cadence".

See also