Phrygian cadence
nounDefinition of Phrygian cadence
: a musical cadence in which the root of the final chord is approached from a semitone above
especially
: the cadence in which the first inversion of a minor subdominant (see subdominant entry 2 sense a) resolves to a dominant (see dominant entry 2 sense 2b)
Mozart leads into it with a Phrygian cadence on E, the traditional setting for a question (here, “Which of the gods will give me aid?”). — Daniel Heartz, Haydn, Mozart and the Viennese School, 1995
— see cadence illustration