Note to moderator: read slowly. Answer these music theory questions about the exquisite final section of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, for 10 points each:
[10e] Although the final section is sung on this word, the Stabat Mater does not resolve in the type of cadence nicknamed for this word, the plagal cadence. Many sacred works, including the Stabat Mater, use fugues sung on this four-letter word to conclude the liturgy.
ANSWER: amen
[10m] The final cadence in F minor is preceded by successive tonicizations to B flat and C preceded by chords with this function, respectively F7 and G7, in a device sometimes called a “Monte.”
ANSWER: secondary dominant [prompt on partial answer] (The “Monte” refers to successive secondary dominants and their resolutions going sequentially upwards via a bass rising in half steps.)
[10h] The final resolution of the piece occurs with the two voices singing a string of these suspensions with the “ligature” syncopations of fourth species counterpoint. The Stabat Mater opens with the two voices “leaping” over each other in a string of these suspensions, which are the most common bass suspensions.
ANSWER: 2-3 suspensions (“two three” or “two to three”)
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