Scholars are in agreement that a cadence in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century could only be evaded at the moment of its resolution (Berger 1987; Fromson 1991; Meier 1988; Schubert 2021). However, this perspective does not account for evasion during the scripted pre-resolution steps of compound and double cadences. These scholars are thus unable to explain an important compositional strategy for shaping and subverting listeners’ expectations. This paper presents a framework that captures this aspect of the music by measuring the degree of surprise associated with evaded cadences in terms of how late in the cadential process the evasion occurs. I demonstrate the value of this method through an analysis of Girolamo Frescobaldi’s twelfth toccata from his first book published in 1618.

Taking cues from Harrison (2020), I assume that the expectation of closure increases the closer we get to the point of resolution. This idea echoes Descartes ([1618] 1650), who similarly argues that expectation increases as the cadence nears its close (54–55). I therefore assume the following: the later the evasion, the stronger the surprise. The hierarchy of evasion is based on (a) the percentage of the cadence heard before the evasion and, when this proportion is the same, (b) the total number of steps preceding the evasion.

Although there are many other aspects that contribute to the degree of surprise (such as the mode), isolating the timing of the evasion allows us to appreciate how composers manipulate listeners’ sense of their position in (musical) time. Frescobaldi's twelfth toccata provides an example of how composers used this approach to create highly unpredictable music.

Recent years have seen a renewed interest in cadence and closure in post-Classical-era music, especially Romantic and neo-tonal repertoire (Caplin 2018 and 2024, Rodgers and Osborne 2020, Eng 2019). One subset of neo-tonal music that poses special challenges regarding closure is polytonal music. Polytonality relies on the establishment of separate key centers that can work both independently and in conjunction with one another, which raises many questions concerning cadence and closure—principally, what do we consider a cadence in polytonal music, and is closure possible in only one key or can it happen in multiple keys at once?

This paper addresses these questions by defining and establishing the polytonal closural mechanisms. Drawing upon studies of polytonality by Peter Kaminsky (2004) and studies of neo-tonal closure by Clare Eng (2019), I outline three types of closure that appear in polytonal works: (1) monoclosure, where closure is reached in one of the established keys, but the other key(s) does not achieve any closure, either stopping mid phrase or continuing uninterrupted; (3) polyclosure, where simultaneous closure occurs in two (or more) separately established keys; and (3) converging closure, where multiple established keys converge at the point of cadence to achieve closure in one unified key.

After developing this analytical framework, it is applied to Milhaud’s Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Piano, Op. 47-I as a primary case study. The analysis of Op. 47-I draws on the Sonata Theory of James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy (2006), as well as writings about twentieth-century sonata form by Joseph Straus (1990) and Damien Blättler (2024). This analysis includes a meta-narrative analysis founded on theories of agency by Robert Hatten (2018) and Edward Klorman (2016). At the center of both a sonata form analysis and agential analysis of Op. 47-I, are the mechanisms of polytonal closure, which serve to describe convention and construct an intricate narrative.

The “world music” boom of the 1980s was a complex phenomenon that produced many types of musical fusion as popular music artists adapted sounds from cultural traditions they did not know well. One fascinating and relatively neglected example is the influence of Bulgarian singing traditions, rich in drones and ornamentation, on progressive pop star Kate Bush.

Ethnomusicologists including Buchanan and Silverman have explored the political dimensions of Bulgarian vocals in foreign pop music, and Laušević has investigated North American amateur musicians’ embrace of the Balkans. However, music theorists mostly have focused on traditional music (Goldberg 2020) and Bulgarian-made arrangements (Kirilov 2015). How are Bulgarian musical conventions repurposed in adaptations by foreign recording artists? Answering this question illuminates both the richness of the traditions and the apparent priorities of the adapter.

I analyze the musical treatment of Bulgarian vocal techniques in the first collaboration between Kate Bush and Trio Bulgarka through their shared songs on the hit album The Sensual World (1989). Two vocal patterns that conventionally signal closure in Bulgarian music are employed in new ways by Bush, mobilized to support her messages of empowerment and community in a progressive-pop context. Traditional indications of closure are undercut by repetition in “Rocket's Tail” and by modal reframing in “Deeper Understanding.”

“Rocket’s Tail” adapts izvikvane, a high-pitched exclamation on the vowel “i,” which signals closure in southwestern regions of Bulgaria. The rapid, rhythmicized rendition of the technique mid-song exceeds traditional norms. Nearer the end, the singers switch to extended, downward-sliding exclamations. This version more closely resembles the conventional closing gesture, but its repetition lessens its conclusive effect.

In “Deeper Understanding,” the soloist’s ornamented descent to the modal final is complicated by an instrumental drone a step below that final. This choice renders the melody unresolved, complementing Bush’s English-language lyrics about social disconnection.

On The Sensual World, Kate Bush preserves some sonic and structural features of traditional Bulgarian singing while distorting others. These songs repurpose powerful vocal techniques, weakening the concluding force they would have in a traditional context in favor of supporting the English lyrics.