[Music]
The following theme from Tchaikowsky’s Quartet in F major,
notwithstanding the time signature, certainly gives the effect of
a long, seven-beat measure,e.g.
[Music]
Those who wish to do a little investigating of their own in the
field of modern music will find interesting examples of 5/4 and
7/4 metres in Ravel’sDaphnis and Chloe, in d’Indy’s Sonata for
Violin and Pianoforte and in the Ballet music of Stravinsky.
We even find passages where, for special effect, the usual beats
are elided or extra beats inserted. Schumann was one of the
most daring experimenters in this respect and such fantastic ef-
fects are frequent in his pianoforte works—notably in theCar-
naval, op. 9, and in thePhantasiestücke, op. 12,e.g.
[Music: SCHUMANN:Carnaval]
With reference to all the foregoing principles and comments
the music-lover is cautioned against the assumption that music,
from the standpoint of the composer or the listener, is merely a
matter of mechanical counting; or that the “swing” of music is as
regular as that of a sewing-machine. But, as order is Heaven’s
first law, it is true that music tends to move in definite, sym-
metrical groups; and where departure is made from this practise
the effect is one most carefully planned. The matter deserves
earnest consideration, for, in what is known as the “rhythmi-
cal sense,” Americans—as a people, in comparison with foreign
nations—are still woefully deficient. As rhythm is the basic ele-
ment in all music, there is nothing in which the listener should
more definitely train his faculties than in intelligent coöperation
with the freedom of the composer.