A Lydian cadence is a type of
half cadence that was popular in the
Ars nova style of the 14th and early 15th century. It is so-called because it evokes the
Lydian mode
The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone.
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Because of the importance of the major scale in modern music ...
based on its final chord as a tonic, and may be construed with the chord symbols VII-I (if the final is taken as a Lydian-mode tonic) or III-IV (if the final is taken as a in major). It is also the most common type of double-leading-tone cadence, as it contains two leading-tone resolutions (- and -). A frequently-used type of
Landini cadence
A Landini cadence (Landini sixth or Landini sixth cadence), or under-third cadence, is a type of cadence, a technique in music composition, named after Francesco Landini (1325–1397), a blind Florentine organist, in honor of his extensive use ...
is based on the Lydian cadence, with the upper voice dropping to before skipping back up to the tonic.
Cadences
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