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Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom

Robert Hutchinson

Section 19.4 The Deceptive Cadence with ♭\(\left.\text{VI}\right.\)

The \(\left.\text{V}\right.\)–♭\(\left.\text{VI}\right.\) deceptive cadence is a deceptive realization of a deceptive progression. This \(\left.\text{V}\right.\)–♭\(\left.\text{VI}\right.\) cadence ties into the ♭\(\left.\text{VI}\right.\)–♭\(\left.\text{VII}\right.\)–\(\left.\text{I}\right.\) progression to produce an “epic” (although somewhat clichéd) ending to the “Star Spangled Banner” as performed at the Super Bowl and Presidential Inaugurations by artists such as Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga, among others.
Figure 19.4.1. John Stafford Smith and Francis Scott Key, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) as performed by Whitney Houston at the 1991 Super Bowl
Figure 19.4.2. John Stafford Smith and Francis Scott Key, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) as performed by Beyoncé at the 2013 Presidential Inauguration
Figure 19.4.3. John Stafford Smith and Francis Scott Key, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) as performed by Lady Gaga at the 2016 Super Bowl
This same \(\left.\text{V}\right.\)–♭\(\left.\text{VI}\right.\) deceptive cadence with ♭\(\left.\text{VI}\right.\) progressing to ♭\(\left.\text{VII}\right.\) followed by \(\left.\text{I}\right.\) occurs in epic fashion at the end of the animated film Beauty and the Beast from 1991.
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