Abstract The analytical approach to Gesualdo’s chromatic compositional technique has been up to now twofold: on one side, such impressive chromaticism has been seen as a matter of harmony, i.e. as a set of exceptions to a regular «tonal» language (Lowinsky, Clough); on the other side, such writing has been considered as essentially contrapuntal by nature (Dahlhaus). This survey aims to point out that in some specific passages, related to the meaning of the poetical text, Gesualdo’s chromaticism can be analysed as a particular case of «avoided cadence». Therefore, a particular kind of cadence is here taken into account: that with a «sincopa tutta cattiva» (according to Vicentino’s definition), i.e. with an unprepared fourth, already considered by Roland Jackson.
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