Why is a Cadence important in music?

Question

I'm confused as to what a cadence does. The only thing I understand is that like English it's a period in a sentence. Is that its primary purpose to separate pieces of thought? And how important is it? Is it possible to play music without cadences?

Answer 1

In modern usage, the term "cadence" means "closure".

In tonal musics, sequences of chords gravitate / progress towards a final tonic which yields the feeling of restfulness, a place of repose, a comfortable stopping point.

In non-diagetic forms (like background for movies, TV, video games, etc) there is no need for a final or temporary resolution.

The cadence is one of the elements which define tonal musics as opposed to non-tonal musics which often as not never actually resolve (effect a cadence).

Answer 2

Wow, you're on to something big here. In response to your question at the end, I'd say, No, it's really not practical to compose music without a cadence. That would be like talking without stopping. But the cadence is not always like the period at the end of a sentence. There are all gradations, from the slightest hint of a pause to the final cadence at the end of a piece. I think the cadence rose naturally. First, because vocalists cannot sing endlessly without taking a breath. And the cadence had already occurred in a related art form, poetry. Poetic lines that are "end-stopped", like the (interminable) "Song of Hiawatha" by Longfellow, make the point:

On the shores of Gitche Gumee,

Of the shining Big-Sea-Water,

Stood Nokomis, the old woman,

Pointing with her finger westward,

O'er the water pointing westward,

To the purple clouds of sunset.

(https://www.hwlongfellow.org/poems_poem.php?pid=283)

You see how there's a natural break at the end of each line? Well, this is a 19th Century poem, but I could cite poems in Latin or even Greek, to make the same point.

There's no way in this context to look at musical examples. The easiest way to do this would be for you to contact me on Wyzant, and we could get together --- in person or on the Internet --- and delve into this more deeply.