Amens › Musical amens: the Dresden Amen and the Amen cadence
Musical amens: the Dresden Amen and the Amen cadence
Music has treated the word amen with special care. Two ideas stand out: a famous seven-note motif from Dresden and a simple chord movement known as the Amen cadence.
Why amens are musical
Amen is often the last word of a hymn or anthem, so composers have long put a lot of thought into it. A good musical amen has to feel like an ending, calm and settled. Over time, two distinctive sounds have become linked with it: the Dresden Amen and the plagal, or "Amen", cadence.
The Dresden Amen
The Dresden Amen is a seven-note sequence that has been sung in churches in Saxony, Germany, since the beginning of the 19th century. Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741 to 1801) composed it for the Royal Chapel in Dresden, and its use spread to Catholic and Lutheran churches in Saxony. It forms the second and third parts of a threefold amen, which means that the full set is sung in three stages, with the Dresden motif making up the closing two.
Composers who borrowed it
- Felix Mendelssohn used it in his Symphony No. 5, the "Reformation", where the theme appears in the strings in the first movement.
- Richard Wagner used it in Parsifal, his last opera, and also in Das Liebesverbot and Tannhäuser. Wagner was Kapellmeister in Dresden from 1842 to 1849, so he knew the tune well.
When a composer quotes it, listeners with some church knowledge will often recognise it straight away, which is one reason it has stayed in use.
The plagal cadence
In music theory a cadence is the closing pattern of chords at the end of a phrase. A plagal cadence is one where the subdominant chord (IV) moves directly to the tonic chord (I). In the key of C major that means F major going to C major. It is sometimes called the "Amen cadence".
The nickname comes from the way it is often used at the end of hymns, especially those published between the middle of the 19th and the middle of the 20th centuries, where the final "A-men" sits on those two chords. The sound is often described as gentler or sadder than the stronger, more decisive authentic cadence, in which the dominant (V) goes to the tonic (I).
Hear it in popular music
Plagal cadences are not limited to church music. Examples of the standard IV-I movement include "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and "In My Life" by The Beatles. The minor version, iv-I, appears in "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis and "Crying" by Roy Orbison. Many other songs use a related colour, with a minor iv chord in a major key, which gives a wistful feel.
How to hear the difference
| Cadence | Chords | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Plagal ("Amen") | IV then I (F to C in C major) | Gentle, settled, a soft landing |
| Authentic | V then I (G to C in C major) | Decisive, a firm full stop |
| Minor plagal | iv then I | Bittersweet, nostalgic |
Try it on a keyboard or guitar. Play F major followed by C major, and say "a-men" over the two chords. You will probably recognise it at once.
Choirs and congregations
Many choirs sing a sung amen after a prayer or anthem: sometimes a simple chordal ending, sometimes an extended polyphonic one. Congregational hymns often finish with a sung amen printed after the last verse. If you sing in a choir and the music includes an amen, treat it as a full part of the piece, giving it a long final note and a clean release.
Another very different amen
The word amen also appears in a quite different corner of music: a drum solo from a 1969 soul record. Its story is on the Amen break.
For more on the word itself, read meaning and origin, or see how it is used in faith on amen in three faiths.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Dresden Amen?
A seven-note sequence sung in Saxon churches since the early 1800s, composed by Johann Gottlieb Naumann for the Royal Chapel in Dresden. Mendelssohn and Wagner both used it.
What is the Amen cadence?
Another name for the plagal cadence, where the IV chord moves directly to the I chord. The name comes from its common use at the end of hymns.
Which pop songs use a plagal cadence?
Examples include 'Billie Jean', 'In My Life' and 'Fortunate Son' for IV to I, and 'Space Oddity' and 'Crying' for the minor version.