# Any good examples of Plagal Function in music that aren't on my list of pieces?



## caters

So, I am basically subdividing the Plagal Function into 3 categories in my Music Theory book and going over each individually in the section I've titled "The Fourth Function". Those are Plagal Cadences, Plagal Tags, and the Plagal ii. Plagal Cadences are at the ends of phrases and are usually either IV -> I(As I've seen occasionally in Bach chorales) or I -> IV64 -> IV64 -> I(As in Handel's Hallelujah Chorus) whereas the Plagal Tag is towards the beginning or middle of a phrase and always starts and ends with the tonic chord, but can have any inversion of the IV chord in between the tonic chords.

I have a few examples so far, these pieces to be exact:


 Ending of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus -> Plagal Cadence
 Bach Chorale no. 12 "Ein Kind geborn zu Bethlehem" -> Plagal Cadence
 Toccata and Fugue in D minor, also by Bach -> Plagal Cadence
 Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata Movement II -> Plagal Tag
 Chopin Nocturne in Ab Op. 32 no. 2 -> Plagal Tag
 Haydn's Piano Sonata no. 50 in D Movement I -> Plagal ii

However, it feels like I need a few more examples, especially of the Plagal ii. I know there's the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata no. 1 in C, with it's I -> ii6 -> I6 move at the start, but since I have already used that piece twice for triadic harmony and non-chord tones, I don't really feel like using it a third time for the Plagal ii examples.

And some Plagal Cadence examples outside of the Baroque wouldn't hurt either because although the Baroque and Renaissance is where I see the most usage of the Plagal Cadence, I'm sure it's been used occasionally by Classical and Romantic era composers and I just haven't found it yet. And it wouldn't hurt to have a couple more examples of the Plagal Tag either.

So, what other pieces should I include excerpts of to illustrate these 3 Plagal motions, the Plagal Cadence, Plagal Tag, and Plagal ii?


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## Daniel K-B

Hi,

One interesting example to check out is the end of Clara Schumann's piano trio in G minor, Op.17 Mvt.1


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## Kreisler jr

IIRC the very end of the "Gloria" in Beethoven's Missa solemnis.


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## Monsalvat

The first movement of Brahms's Fourth symphony ends with a plagal cadence (Em–Am–Em).


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