Wednesday, 3 March 2021

Quintuple meter

Those of you who, like me, were children of the 60s, will remember Dave Brubeck's Take Five:
Quintuple meter - usually 5/4 or 5/8 time - is surprisingly common in music of all ages.

The First Delphic Hymn, by Athenaeus (2nd century BC) is in the quintuple Cretic meter:

Twenty one centuries later, here's the German baritone Hermann Prey singing Carl Loewe's 1844 ballad Prinz Eugen der edle Ritter in 5/4 time:
Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony (no. 6) also has the main theme of the second movement in 5/4:
I really like this piece of Hindemith - Ludus Tonalis: Fugue in G (1942).It's a jolly 5/8.
I know you youngsters will want something more attuned to your tastes, so here's Taylor Swift in 5/4 mode:
Got a favourite out of these? Let me know.

1 comment:

  1. Take Five has to be my favourite - I even bought the single when I was a teenager.
    I don’t pretend to understand all those times - even worse than the x tables but great respect to those who do. The German song was forbidden to watch by the company who produced it.
    A query - how could anyone know what Ancient Greek music sounded like when it wasn’t noted down?

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