How do harmony and tonality work in the Classical and early Romantic symphony, and how do you describe the chords, cadences and key relationships in the WJEC set works?
Harmony and tonality in the symphony: diatonic functional harmony, chords and inversions, cadences, modulation to related keys, the tonic and dominant axis of sonata form, and chromatic colour, applied to the Haydn and Mendelssohn set works.
A WJEC A-Level Music study of harmony and tonality in the symphony: diatonic functional harmony, chords and inversions, the four main cadences, modulation to related keys, the tonic-dominant axis of sonata form, and chromatic colour, applied to the Haydn and Mendelssohn set works for the Appraising exam.
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What this dot point is asking
This dot point covers harmony and tonality as they work in the Classical and early Romantic symphony, the analytical language you need for the WJEC set works. It asks you to recognise and describe chords, inversions, cadences, key relationships and modulation, to explain the tonic-dominant axis that drives sonata form, and to spot chromatic colour, applied to the Haydn and Mendelssohn symphonies.
The answer
Diatonic functional harmony, chords and inversions
You should be able to identify common chords by ear and by Roman numeral (I, IV, V, vi and so on), recognise inversions from the bass note, and hear the stronger drive a dominant seventh gives towards a cadence.
The four cadences
Cadences articulate the structure of a symphony like punctuation in prose: perfect cadences confirm a new key and close sections and movements; imperfect cadences keep the music moving forward; interrupted cadences extend a passage by delaying the resolution before a final perfect cadence.
Tonality and the tonic-dominant axis
The tonal plan is organised around the tonic (home key) and its closest relative, the dominant. In sonata form this drives the whole movement: the exposition states the first subject in the tonic and modulates (via the transition) to the dominant for the second subject if the movement is in a major key, or to the relative major if it is in a minor key. The development ranges through related and remoter keys, building tension precisely by avoiding the tonic. The recapitulation resolves this by restoring both subjects in the tonic, so the second subject, first heard away from home, now returns in the home key.
In the set works, the first movement of Haydn's Symphony No. 104 moves from D major to A major (tonic to dominant); the first movement of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 moves from A major to E major (tonic to dominant). The slow movements move to contrasting keys (Haydn's G major, the subdominant; Mendelssohn's D minor), and Mendelssohn's finale lands in the tonic minor (A minor).
Modulation and chromatic colour
Modulation (changing key) is usually to closely related keys (the dominant, subdominant, relative major or minor), reached smoothly through pivot chords shared between the two keys, and confirmed by a perfect cadence in the new key. Composers add chromatic colour with chords from outside the key: secondary (applied) dominants that tonicise another chord, diminished seventh chords for tension and surprise modulation, the Neapolitan sixth (a flattened supertonic chord) and augmented sixth chords for expressive drive towards the dominant. Haydn's harmony is largely diatonic with witty chromatic touches; Mendelssohn keeps clear keys but enriches them with chromaticism and counterpoint.
Examples in context
Model paragraph (how harmony shapes a movement). Harmony is not decoration in a symphony, it is the structure. The first movement of Haydn's London Symphony makes its journey audible through key: the exposition leaves D major and settles its second subject in the dominant, A major, and that tension, the music living away from home, is what the development then exploits, steering motifs through restless related keys while withholding the tonic. The listener feels the lack of resolution until the recapitulation restores D major and the second subject finally sounds at home, sealed by a perfect cadence. Within this design, smaller cadences do the local punctuation, imperfect cadences pushing phrases onward and interrupted cadences delaying a close, so harmony works on two scales: the broad tonal plan and the phrase-by-phrase articulation.
Try this
Q1. Name the four cadences and the chords that make each. [4 marks]
- Cue. Perfect (V to I), imperfect (any chord to V), plagal (IV to I), interrupted (V to vi).
Q2. In a major-key sonata-form exposition, to which key does the music usually modulate for the second subject? [2 marks]
- Cue. The dominant (for example A major in Haydn's D major first movement).
Q3. Explain how harmony and tonality drive a sonata-form movement, with reference to a set work. [12 marks]
- What the marker wants. That the exposition moves from tonic to dominant, the development builds tension by ranging away from the tonic, and the recapitulation resolves by returning everything to the tonic, named with set-work keys (Haydn D to A, or Mendelssohn A to E) and the cadences that confirm them.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC 201912 marksExplain the key relationships used in a sonata-form movement, with reference to a symphony set work.Show worked answer →
A harmony and tonality question testing command of sonata-form key plan.
A sonata-form exposition states the first subject in the tonic, then modulates through a transition to a related key for the second subject: the dominant if the movement is in a major key (so D major moves to A major in Haydn's first movement; A major moves to E major in Mendelssohn's), or the relative major if the movement is in a minor key.
The development moves through a range of related and remoter keys, building tension by avoiding the tonic. The recapitulation resolves this by restoring both subjects in the tonic, so the second subject, heard earlier in the dominant, now returns in the home key.
A top answer names actual keys from a set work (D major and A major in Haydn; A major and E major in Mendelssohn) and explains that the tonic-dominant axis drives the form.
WJEC 202110 marksIdentify and describe the four common cadences and explain how cadences articulate structure in a symphony.Show worked answer →
A question on cadences, fundamental to the Appraising listening tasks.
Perfect cadence (V to I): a strong, conclusive close, used to end phrases, sections and movements firmly.
Imperfect cadence (any chord to V): an open, unfinished sound that pauses on the dominant, used mid-phrase to keep the music moving.
Plagal cadence (IV to I): a softer "amen" close, sometimes used at endings for a gentler effect.
Interrupted cadence (V to vi): a surprise, where the expected I is replaced by vi, prolonging the music and delaying resolution.
Strong answers explain that cadences punctuate the symphony like punctuation in prose: perfect cadences confirm key changes and close sections, imperfect cadences create momentum, and interrupted cadences extend a passage before the final perfect cadence.
Related dot points
- The development of the symphony 1750 to 1900: the rise of the four-movement Classical symphony, sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the move towards the larger, more expressive Romantic symphony, the compulsory Area of Study A context for the WJEC set works.
A WJEC A-Level Music study of the development of the symphony from 1750 to 1900: the four-movement Classical plan, sonata form, the growing orchestra, and the shift to the larger, more expressive Romantic symphony, the context for the Haydn and Mendelssohn set works in Area of Study A.
- Haydn Symphony No. 104 in D major, the London Symphony (set work): the four movements, the slow introduction and sonata-form first movement, the songful slow movement, the minuet and trio, and the rondo-sonata finale, with their structure, orchestration and harmony.
A WJEC A-Level Music set-work analysis of Haydn's Symphony No. 104 in D major, the London Symphony: the slow introduction and sonata-form first movement, the lyrical slow movement, the minuet and trio, and the finale, with their structure, orchestration and harmony for the Appraising exam.
- Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 in A major, the Italian Symphony (set work): the four movements, the energetic sonata-form first movement, the processional slow movement, the graceful third movement, and the saltarello finale, with their structure, orchestration, harmony and early Romantic features.
A WJEC A-Level Music set-work analysis of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A major, the Italian Symphony: the energetic sonata-form first movement, the processional slow movement, the graceful third movement, and the saltarello finale, with their structure, orchestration and early Romantic style for the Appraising exam.
- Melody and harmony: describing melodic features (conjunct and disjunct motion, range, sequence, ornamentation, phrasing, motif), chords and progressions, consonance and dissonance, and the difference between diatonic, chromatic and modal harmony, applied to listening extracts in any style.
A WJEC A-Level Music study of melody and harmony for the Appraising listening exam: melodic features (conjunct and disjunct motion, range, sequence, ornamentation, motif), chords and progressions, consonance and dissonance, and diatonic, chromatic and modal harmony, applied to any style of music.
- Tonality and structure: identifying major, minor, modal and atonal tonality, key relationships and modulation, and recognising musical structures (binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, variations, verse-chorus, head-solos-head, strophic, through-composed), applied to listening extracts in any style.
A WJEC A-Level Music study of tonality and structure for the Appraising listening exam: major, minor, modal and atonal tonality, key relationships and modulation, and the main musical structures (binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, variations, verse-chorus, head-solos-head, strophic, through-composed), applied to any style.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCE AS/A Level in Music specification (from 2016) — WJEC (2016)