Harmonic Elision

Harmonic elision occurs when an expected cadential goal is simultaneously the beginning of a new phrase or harmonic motion — the arrival is present but skipped over perceptually because it is absorbed into what follows. Rather than landing on a chord and resting, the harmony at the cadence point is immediately recontextualized: it arrives and departs at the same instant.

The most common form involves a deceptive or evaded cadence in which the expected resolution chord is redirected before the ear can settle. A V chord resolves to vi instead of I, or the soprano leaps away from the expected scale degree at the moment of resolution. Composers use this to extend phrases, avoid closure, and create a sense of ongoing momentum even at formal boundaries.

Harmonic elision is closely related to the concept of phrase overlap (or phrase elision), where the last beat of one phrase serves as the first beat of the next. When the harmonic elision and the phrase elision coincide, the effect can be especially striking: the listener hears both a satisfying arrival and the energetic push of a new beginning in the same moment. This technique is common in developmental and transitional passages in sonata form.

When analyzing music with harmonic elision, it helps to mark both the implied cadential goal and the actual chord present. The implied harmony may not be sounded at all, or it may be present but rhythmically weak. The defining feature is that a structural harmonic expectation is simultaneously fulfilled and overridden, creating a continuity that transcends the phrase boundary.