plagal
(of a Gregorian mode) having the final in the middle of the compass.: Compare authentic (def. 6a).
Origin of plagal
1Words Nearby plagal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use plagal in a sentence
After all, BTS’s supersmash “Butter,” which hit the top of the charts in June, also uses mixolydian, while Billie Eilish slips the double plagal cadence into her new song “Getting Older.”
These enharmonic passages recur to satiety, and the abuse of the plagal cadence deprives it of its religious solemnity.
The Works of Honor de Balzac | Honor de BalzacThus the melody itself was said to be either authentic or plagal, according to whether it had one or two tonics.
Critical & Historical Essays | Edward MacDowellThe theme of Schumann's “Etudes symphoniques” is authentic, and the first variation is plagal.
Critical & Historical Essays | Edward MacDowellThe plagal Cadence (A-men chord) at the end of the piece has been transcribed as breves instead of semibreves for authenticity.
Sixty Years a Queen | Sir Herbert Maxwell
These modes are divided into two classes—the “authentic” and “plagal.”
Music in the History of the Western Church | Edward Dickinson
British Dictionary definitions for plagal
/ (ˈpleɪɡəl) /
(of a cadence) progressing from the subdominant to the tonic chord, as in the Amen of a hymn
(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
Origin of plagal
1- Compare authentic (def. 5)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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