Continuation function

The information on this page may be skewed – click here for details.

The info on this page is either entirely based on or mostly based on the content published in caplin-2013 or caplin-1998. Caplin is considered to be responsible for reviving interest in the analysis of form in North American music theory.

While Caplin's impact cannot be understated, it is worth understanding that his 1998 work (and his 2013 followup) are focused on Classical music: particularly the works of Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart. It is important to not assume other styles of music (both preceding and following the classical era, or music in other parts of the world) follow these same conventions. Music theory is descriptive, not prescriptive, and so the theory you see describing what was common in the Classical era may not apply to anything else.

The continuation function of a sentence is meant to convey the "feeling" of being in the midst of the theme. To convey this feeling, there are a couple mechanisms that can be utilized:1

  1. Accelerating the harmonic rhythm
  2. Fragmenting melodic material
  3. Increasing the rhythmic activity at a surface level
  4. Destabilizing the harmony

Each of these mechanisms, either by definition (4) or not (1-3), contribute to the destabilization of the foundation created by the presentation function. They do this by creating a sense of "unrest" or "forward momentum".