plagal

American  

[pley-guhl] / ˈpleɪ gəl /

adjective

Music.

1. (of a Gregorian mode) having the final in the middle of the compass.

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plagal British  

/ ˈpleɪɡəl /

adjective

1. (of a cadence) progressing from the subdominant to the tonic chord, as in the Amen of a hymn

2. (of a mode) commencing upon the dominant of an authentic mode, but sharing the same final as the authentic mode. Plagal modes are designated by the prefix Hypo- before the name of their authentic counterparts

   the Hypodorian mode

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Etymology

Origin of plagal

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin plagālis, equivalent to plag ( a ) plagal mode (apparently back formation from plagius plagal; see plage) + -ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

You can listen to a few simple cadences here: Perfect Cadence53 , Plagal Cadence54 , Half-cadence55 , Deceptive Cadence56 .

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Oriental or Grecian in origin, it had four keys called Authentic Modes, to which were added later four more called Plagal Modes.

From On the Execution of Music, and Principally of Ancient Music by Saint-Saëns, Camille

In the opening bars of the movement, just before the introduction of this tone-figure, he uses an ancient ecclesiastical style, the Plagal, a mode that obtained centuries before Palestrina.

From Beethoven by Fischer, George Alexander

Plagal, plā′gal, adj. in Gregorian music, denoting a mode or melody in which the final is in the middle of the compass instead of at the bottom—opp. to Authentic.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

The name arises from the modes used in early church music called Plagal Modes, which were a transposition of the authentic modes beginning on the fourth degree of the authentic modes.

From Dramatic Romances by Browning, Robert