Quintuple meter orquintuple time is a musicalmeter characterized by fivebeats in a measure, whether variably or equally stressed.

Like the more commonduple,triple, andquadruple meters, it may besimple, with each beat divided in half, orcompound, with each beat divided into thirds. The most commontime signatures for simple quintuple meter are⁵
₄ and⁵
₈; compound quintuple meter is most often written in¹⁵
₈.

Simple quintuple meter can be written in⁵
₄ or⁵
₈ time, but may also be notated by using regularlyalternating bars of triple and duple meters, for example²
₄ +³
₄. Compound quintuple meter, with each of its five beats divided into three parts, can similarly be notated using a time signature of¹⁵
₈, by writing triplets on each beat of a simple quintuple signature, or by regularly alternating meters such as⁶
₈ +⁹
₈.

Another notational variant involvescompound meters, in which two or three numerals take the place of the expected numerator. In simple quintuple meter, the 5 may be replaced as²⁺³
₈ or²⁺¹⁺²
₈ for example.^[1] A time signature of¹⁵
₈, however, does not necessarily mean the music is in a compound quintuple meter. It may, for example, indicate a bar of triple meter in which each beat is subdivided into five parts. In this case, the meter is sometimes characterized as "triple quintuple time".^[2]

It is also possible for a¹⁵
₈ time signature to be used for an irregular, oradditive, metrical pattern, such as groupings of3+3+3+2+2+2 eighth notes or, for example in theHymn to the Sun andHymn to Nemesis byMesomedes of Crete,2+2+2+2+2+3+2, which may alternatively be given the composite signature⁸⁺⁷
₈.^[3]

Similarly, the presence of some bars with a⁵
₄ or⁵
₈ meter signature does not necessarily mean that the music is in quintuple meter overall. The regular alternation of⁵
₄ and⁴
₄ inBruce Hornsby's "The Tango King" (from the albumHot House), for example, results in an overall nonuple meter (5+4 = 9).^[4]

Before the 20th century, quintuple time was rare in European concert music, but is more commonly found in other cultures.

Rhythm in ancient Greek music was closely tied to poetic meter, and included what are understood today as quintuple patterns. The twoDelphic Hymns from the second century BC both provide examples. The First Delphic Hymn, byAthenaeus, son of Athenaeus, is in the quintupleCretic meter throughout. The first nine of the ten sections of the Second Hymn, byLimenius, are also in Cretic meter.^[5]

In addition to the Cretic meter, which consisted of along-short-long pattern, ancient Greek music had seven other quintuple meters: Bacchic (L-L-S), Palimbacchic (or antibacchic:S-L-L), four species of Paeanic (L-S-S-S,S-L-S-S,S-S-L-S—which is a composite ofpyrrhic andtrochee—andS-S-S-L), andhyporchematic (S-S-S-S-S).^[6]

Arabic theorists already in the earlyAbbasid period (AD 750–900) describedmodal rhythmic cycles (īqā‘āt), that included quintuple meters, though taxonomies and terminology vary amongst writers. The first figure to describe these rhythms wasAbū Yūsuf Ya‘qūb al-Kindī (ca 801–ca 866), who divided them into two broad categories,ṯẖaqīl ("heavy", meaning slow) andkhafīf ("light", meaning quick). Two of hisṯẖaqīl modes—ṯẖaqīl thānī ("second heavy", S-S-L-S) andramal (L-S-L)—and onekhafīf mode are quintuple.^[7] The most important writers of the later Abbasid period (AD 900–1258) wereAbū Naṣr al-Fārābī (d. 950) andIbn Sīnā (d. 1037). Al-Fārābī elaborated the rhythmic system established a century earlier by another important early Abbasid musician,Isḥāq al-Mawṣilī, who had based it on local traditions, without any knowledge of classical Greek music theory.^[8] Isḥāq's and al-Fārābī's system consisted of eight rhythmic modes, the third and fourth of which were quintuple: calledṯẖaqīl thānī ("second heavy"), andkhafīf al-ṯẖaqīl thānī ("second light heavy"), both of which are short-short-short-long, in slow and fast tempo, respectively.^[9] This terminology and these definitions continued to be found as late as the 12th century inMuslim Spain, for example in a document by Abd-Allāh ibn Muḥammad ib al-Ṣīd al-Baṭaliawsī.^[10]

In the MoroccanMalḥūn repertory (an urban song style closely associated withAndalusian music),⁵
₈ rhythms are sometimes introduced into the basic meter of²
₄.^[11] Turkish classical music employs a system of rhythmic modes (calledusul), which include units ranging from two to ten time units. The five-beat meter is calledtürk aksağı.^[12]

The traditional music ofAdjara in Western Georgia includes an ancient war-dance calledKhorumi, which is in quintuple meter.^[13]

The cyclically repeating fixed time cycles ofCarnatic andHindustani classical music, calledtālas, include both fast and slow quintuple patterns, as well as binary, ternary, and septenary cycles.^[14] In the Carnatic system, there is a complex "formal" system of tālas which is of great antiquity, and a more recent, rather simpler "informal" system, comprising selected tālas from the "formal" system, plus two fast tālas calledCāpu. The slow quintuple tāla, calledJhampā is from the formal system, and consists of a pattern of7+1+2 beats; the fast quintuple tāla is calledkhaṇḍa Cāpu orara Jhampā, and consists of2+1+2 beats. However, the pattern of beats marking the rotation of the cycle does not necessarily indicate the internal rhythmic organization. For example, although theJhampā tāla, in its most commonmiśra variety, is governed by2+1+2, the most characteristic rhythm of melodies in this tāla is(2+3) + (2+3).^[15]

The tālas in Hindustani music are somewhat more complicated. To begin with, they are not systematically codified, but rather comprise a miscellany of patterns from a number of different repertories. Secondly, the counting units (mātrā) of each tāla are grouped into segments calledvibhāg, which constitute slower "beats" of from1+1⁄2 to 5 of those counting units. Third, in addition to the soundedvibhāg, marked by hand-claps (tālī), there are alsovibhāg marked only by a wave of the hand—the so-calledkhālī beats. The two quintuple tālas in these repertories areJhaptāl—2+3+(2)+3—andSūltāl—2+(2)+2+2+(2). Both are measured by tenmātrā units, butJhaptāl is divided into four unequalvibhāg (the third being akhālī beat) in two halves of fivemātrā each, andSūltāl is divided into five equalvibhāg, the second and fifth of which arekhālī.^[16]

Thekasa repertory of traditionalKorean court music often employs cycles in quintuple time, even though Korean traditional music terminology has no specific term for it. This repertory can be traced back in some cases to the fifteenth century. Quintuple meter is also occasionally found in folk music, with perhaps the most well-known example being theEotmori (엇모리) rhythm (장단) often employed inSanjo.^[17] Quintuple is the oldest surviving traditional Korean meter.^[18]

Quintuple meter occurs as a variation in some women's dance songs ofindigenous Australians, where a⁵
₈ measure is occasionally inserted into songs with a basic duple or four-beat pattern.^[19]

Traditional dance songs of theYupik of Alaska are accompanied by frame drums, beaten with a long thin wand, most commonly in a⁵
₈ crotchet–dotted crotchet (quarter–dotted quarter) pattern.^[20]

Many European folk and traditional repertories also feature quintuple meter. This is particularly true of Slavic cultural groups. The Bulgarian "paidushko" dance, for example, is in a fast5, counted2+3.^[21] In north-eastern Poland (especially inKurpie,Masuria, and northernPodlaskie), five-beat bars are frequently found in wedding songs, with rather slow tempos and not accompanied by dancing. Traditional Russian wedding songs also are in quintuple time.^[22] The Poles and Russians share this proclivity for quintuple meter with the Finns,Sami people, Estonians, and Latvians.^[23] In Finland, theKalevalaic "runometric" songs are the most distinctive feature of folk music, and the most common melody of these epic songs is in quintuple meter. This melody was described in the oldest study of runo singing in 1766, but first published in a musical transcription only about 20 years later.^[24] One South Slavic example is recorded in a manual published in 1714 by the Venetian dancing master Gregorio Lambranzi. It is aforlana titled "Polesana", probably meaning "FromPola", a city inIstria—today a part of Croatia but a Venetian possession until 1947. Although Lambranzi notated this dance in⁶
₈ time, its recurring phrase structure shows it to be in compound-quintuple time, so that its correct form is actually written in¹⁵
₈.^[25]

Greek folk music is also characterized by rhythms in asymmetrical meters. The repertory of thePeloponnese, for example, includes the Dorictsakonikos from Doric-speaking (seeTsakonian language)Kynouria in⁵
₄ time.^[26] TheEpirus region of Northern Greece also has dance melodies in a slow 5 (2–3).^[27]

Spanish folk music is also noted for the use of quintuple meter, particularly well-known examples being theCastilianrueda and theBasquezortziko, but it is also found in the music ofExtremadura,Aragon,Valencia, andCatalonia.^[28] Some types of the folk dances collectively referred to asgavottes, and stemming fromLower Brittany in France are in⁵
₈ meter, though⁴
₄,²
₄, and⁹
₈ are also found.^[29] In theAlsatian region ofKochersberg, a peasant dance called theKochersberger Tanz is in⁵
₈ time, and is similar to a dance of theUpper Palatinate inBavaria calledDer Zwiefache orGerad und Ungerad, because it alternates even and uneven bars (²
₈ and³
₈).^[30]

In European art music it became possible only in the 14th century to notate quintuple rhythms unambiguously, through the use of minor or reversedcoloration.^[31] In some instances from the late-14th-centuryArs subtilior period, quintuple passages occur which are long enough to regard as an established meter. For example, in thesecunda pars of an anonymous two-voiceFortune (MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationaleital. 568, fol. 3), a "clear and definite rhythm" in the upper part creates a⁵
₈ meter set against the⁶
₈ of the lower part.^[32] The earliestcomplete European compositions in quintuple time, however, appear to be seven villancicos in theCancionero Musical de Palacio, which were composed between 1516 and 1520.^[33] Notation of the quintuple meter in these seven pieces is achieved in various ways:^[34]

• Juan del Encina uses the mensuration ⁵
  ₁ in "Amor con fortuna", but in "Tan buen ganadico", he uses a signature of^3²
  _5² (1496).^{[clarification needed]}
• Juan de Anchieta uses ⁵
  ₁ (tempus perfectum,proportio quintupla), in both "Con amores, mi madre" (1465), and "Dos ánades, madre".
• The anonymous "Pensad ora'n al" uses the mensuration ⁵
  ₂.
• "Las mis penas madre" byPedro de Escobar and "De ser mal casada" by Diego Fernández (d. 1551) both use just the proportion sign⁵
  ₂.

Other examples from the 16th century include theIn Nomine "Trust" byChristopher Tye,^[35] the "Qui tollis" section ofJacob Obrecht's Missa "Je ne demande", the "Sanctus" from theMissa Paschalis byHeinrich Isaac,^[31] and the final "Agnus Dei" ofAntoine Brumel's Missa "Bon temps".^[36] Keyboard examples from this period include the first half of an English setting of the offertoryFelix namque from about 1530, and a passage in no. 41 of theLibro de tientos (1626) byFrancisco Correa de Arauxo.^[31]

In theBaroque andClassical eras quintuple meter is, if anything, even less frequently encountered than in theRenaissance. One possible example is the ritornello that precedes and follows Orfeo's aria "Vi ricorda" in act 2 ofClaudio Monteverdi'sL'Orfeo. The notation is problematic, however, and while several editors (Robert Eitner,Vincent d'Indy,Hugo Leichtentritt, andCarl Orff) have transcribed it in quintuple meter, others interpret it differently.^[37] The verses ofGiovanni Valentini'smadrigalCon guardo altero, published inMusiche a doi voci (1621) is composed in⁵
₄.^[38]Johann Heinrich Schmelzer included a⁵
₄ section of 27 measures in hisHarmonia à 5, composed by at least 1668.^[39] Two brief passages of⁵
₈ occur in the "mad scene" (act 2, scene 11) fromHandel's operaOrlando (1732), first at the words "Già solco l'onde" ("Already I am cleaving the waves") when the demented hero believes he has embarked onCharon's boat on theStyx, and then again two bars later.^[31]Charles Burney found this whole scene admirable, as a portrait of Orlando's madness, but observed that "Handel has endeavoured to describe the hero's perturbation of intellect by fragments of symphony in⁵
₈, a division of time which can only be borne in such a situation".^[40] Burney's German contemporary,Johann Kirnberger, also felt that "No one can repeat groups of five and even less of seven equal pulses in succession without wearisome strain".^[41]

Another exceptional 18th-century example is an entire aria composed in⁵
₄ time, "Se la sorte mi condanna" found inAndrea Adolfati's operaArianna (1750),^[42] but the English theater composerWilliam Reeve, with the last movement of hisGypsy's Glee (1796), to the words "Come, stain your cheeks with nut or berry" (in⁵
₄ time) is credited with having composed an example in true quintuple time, "for instead of the usual division of the bar into two parts, such as might be expressed by alternate bars of³
₄ and²
₄, or²
₄ and³
₄, there are five distinct beats in every bar, each consisting of an accent and a non-accent. This freedom from the ordinary alternation of two and three is well expressed by the grouping of the accompaniment, which varies throughout the movement…".^[43]

There appear to have been several motivations for composers to use quintuple time: firstly to demonstrate technical skill, as in the Tye and Correa de Arauxo examples, and secondly to produce an atmospheric effect, or to suggest unease or unusual excitement, as in Handel'sOrlando. In the 19th century, a third motivation arises with the rise ofnationalistic music, which often invokes folk-music elements.^[31] In any case, quintuple time becomes much more frequent (though still not common) in the 19th century. Early examples include Fugue 20 (Allegretto) fromAnton Reicha'sTrente-six fugues for piano (1805),^[44] the tenor aria "Viens, gentille dame" from act 2 ofFrançois-Adrien Boieldieu's operaLa dame blanche (1825),^[45] and the third movement (Larghetto, con molta espressione), fromFrédéric Chopin'sPiano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 4 (1828).^[46] Although Reicha's fugue probably falls into the category of technical skill, the composer does mention taking as a model for the meter the AlsatianKochersberger Tanz.

Nationalistic influence is clearer in the operas of the Russian composerMikhail Glinka: the "Nuptial chorus and scene" from act 3 of the operaA Life for the Tsar (1834–1836) was the first time a composer of art music set the pentasyllabichemistichs of Russian wedding songs in quintuple meter instead of adapting it to a more conventional one.^[47] In his next opera,Ruslan and Ludmila (1837–1842) Glinka repeated the effect in the opening of act 1, where the chorus sings an epithalamium to Lel', the Slavonic god of love, once again in quintuple time.^[48] Later Russian examples are found inTchaikovsky's folk-song settings:Fifty Russian Folk Songs for piano four-hands (1868–1869),Children's Ukrainian and Russian Folksongs (book 1: 1872, book 2: 1877), andSixty-Six Russian Folk Songs for voice and piano (1872), where quintuple meter is notated by regularly alternating signatures, usually³
₄ and²
₄.^[49] AlsoNikolai Rimski-Korsakov'sRussian Easter Festival Overture initial theme is in⁵
₂.

Shorter passages also occur in the music ofHector Berlioz:La tempête (1830), later incorporated intoLélio as the finale, has "quintuple metre for a whole section, notated in compound duple; 'bars' of¹⁵
₄ are defined by a recurring rhythmic pattern and by accents (six 'bars' covering bars 289–306 in the⁶
₄ notation)",^[50] and the "Combat de ceste" (No. 5), fromLes Troyens (1856–1858), has "an attractive⁵
₈ section, only eight bars long".^[50] The outer sections of thescherzo fromAlexander Borodin's unfinished Third Symphony are in⁵
₈ time, interrupted six times in bars 36–38, 69–71, 180–182, 218–220, 352–354, and 392–394 with a three-bar group in²
₄. The central trio section, b. 235–313 is in³
₄ time.^[51]

From around the middle of the century, there isCarl Loewe's ballad for voice and piano, "Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter", Op. 92 (to the poem byFerdinand Freiligrath, 1844), which is in⁵
₄ time throughout,^[52]Ferdinand Hiller's Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 64 (1855) andRhythmische Studien for piano,^[31] a String Trio by K. J. Bischoff, which was awarded a prize by the Deutsche Tonhalle in 1853,^[53] andBenjamin Godard's Violin Sonata No. 4, Op. 12 (1872) which includes ascherzo in⁵
₄ time throughout.^[54] The piano virtuosoCharles-Valentin Alkan showed an interest in unusual rhythmic devices, and composed at least four keyboard pieces in quintuple time: the first three of theDeuxième recueil d'impromptus, Op. 32, no. 2 (1849), Andantino, Allegretto, and Vivace (the fourth and last piece in this collection is inseptuple meter),^[55] and a⁵
₄ "Zorzico dance" episode in thePetit Caprice, réconciliation, Op. 42 (1857).^[56] In opera,Wagner, inserted several⁵
₄ bars in "Tristan, der Held, in jubelnder Kraft", in act 3 ofTristan und Isolde (1856–1859).^[57] Another instance from around this same time is found inAnton Rubinstein's "sacred opera"Der Thurm zu Babel (The Tower of Babel), Op. 80 (1868–1869).^[31] InJohannes Brahms's late collection of six vocal quartets, Op. 112, the second piece, "Nächtens", is entirely in⁵
₄.^[58] At the very end of the century,Alban Berg used⁵
₄ meter throughout his song-setting ofTheodor Storm's poem, "Schließe mir die Augen beide" (1900).^[59]

Three of the best-known examples of quintuple meter in thesymphonic repertoire are from late in theneoromantic (orpost-romantic) period, which reaches from the mid-19th century through World War I: the second movement ofTchaikovsky'sSymphony No. 6 in B minor, "Pathétique", Op. 74 (1893)^[60] (described by one author as the very first example of quintuple meter in Western classical music),^[61]Rachmaninoff'sThe Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (1908),^[62] and the opening movement, "Mars, the Bringer of War" ofThe Planets (1914–1916) byGustav Holst. (The final movement, "Neptune, the Mystic", is also in quintuple meter, but this is less well known.)^[63] The first theme of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, mvmt. II is shown below.

 

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The Finnish composerJean Sibelius used a pattern of quintuple meter in the third movement ofKullervo (1891–1892), where "the orchestra maintains a pattern of five beats in a bar, while the chorus elongates its lines to phrases of fifteen, ten, eight, and twelve beats, respectively".^[64] These areKarelian rhythms, reflecting nationalism in Sibelius's music. He used these quintuple meters as well in several male-chorus works: "Venematka" (no. 3 fromSix Partsongs, Op. 18, 1893), the third movement, "Hyvää iltaa, lintuseni", fromRakastava, Op. 14 (1894), and "Sortunut ääni" (no. 1 fromSix Partsongs, Op. 18, 1898).^[65]

In 1895, the British composerSamuel Coleridge-Taylor wrote the second movement, "Serenade", of hisFantasiestücke, Op. 5, for string quartet in⁵
₄ time.^[66] A little more than ten years later, the Scottish composer Robert Ernest Bryson wrote a string-orchestra fantasy titledVaila in⁵
₄ time.^[67]

In the piano repertoire, the "Promenade", fromModest Mussorgsky'sPictures at an Exhibition (1874), has five versions, in each of which⁵
₄ is mixed with other meters, regularly or irregularly:

1. ⁵
   ₄ alternates with⁶
   ₄ for eight bars, then two of⁶
   ₄ and one pair of⁵
   ₄ +⁶
   ₄, ending with twelve bars of⁶
   ₄
2. ⁵
   ₄ alternates regularly with⁶
   ₄ throughout (effectively¹¹
   ₄)
3. regular alternation of⁵
   ₄ and⁶
   ₄ until the final two bars, which are⁵
   ₄ and C
4. irregular mixture of⁵
   ₄,⁶
   ₄, and⁷
   ₄, with a single³
   ₄ bar at the end
5. four pairs of regularly alternating⁵
   ₄ and⁶
   ₄, then an irregular mixture of⁵
   ₄,⁶
   ₄, and⁷
   ₄ to the end.^[68]

The opening measures are shown below:

 

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To this same period (and to the Russian tradition) also belongs "Prizrak" (Phantom), in⁵
₈ time, which is No. 4 ofSergei Prokofiev's Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 3 (1911).^[69]

These examples are all simple quintuple time. Compound quintuple meter is less frequent, but an instance is found in the middle section of the third movement, "Andante grazioso", of Brahms'sPiano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 (1886), which is in¹⁵
₈ with⁹
₈turnarounds.^[70] "Fêtes", the second movement ofClaude Debussy'sNocturnes for orchestra (1892–1899), also has a recurring passage of two¹⁵
₈ bars, embedded in a context of mainly compound triple (⁹
₈) bars.^[71] The seventh ofFlorent Schmitt'sEight Short Pieces for piano four-hands (1907–1908), "Complainte", is in¹⁵
₈ with occasional bars of⁹
₈ inserted.^[72] The first section ofNikolai Medtner's Piano Sonata Op. 25 No. 2 in E minor ("Night Wind"), which is from 1911, is "perhaps the most extended piece of music in¹⁵
₈ time in existence".^[73]

The common occurrence of quintuple meter in many folk-music traditions caused an increase in its appearance in the works of composers with nationalistic tendencies in the early 20th century.^[31] Examples are the Prelude in the Unison fromGeorge Enescu's Orchestral Suite No. 1, Op. 9 (1903),^[74] "In Mixolydian Mode", "Bulgarian Rhythm (2)", and the third of "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm", nos. 48, 115, and 150 fromBéla Bartók'sMikrokosmos (1926, 1932–1939),^[75] the "Chanson épique", no. 2 fromMaurice Ravel's song cycleDon Quichotte à Dulcinée (1932–1933),^[76] and the first theme group ofCarlos Chávez'sSinfonía india (1935–1936), which is predominantly in⁵
₈ time, but mixed with other meters.^[77] Another impulse for the use of quintuple meter was to evoke pagan and specifically Ancient Greek culture. The⁵
₄ meter of thebacchanalian "Danse générale" concluding Ravel's balletDaphnis et Chloé (1909–1912) is a particularly well-known example.^[78] In his First Symphony, theSinfonía de Antígona (1933), Carlos Chávez reworked incidental music he had composed in 1932 for a production ofSophocles'Antigone in the adaptation byJean Cocteau. In this symphony Chávez made extensive use of the Greek paeonic (or cretic) meter, notated in⁵
₈ time in the score.^[79] The fourth and last movement of Ravel'sString Quartet is mostly in⁵
₈ and⁵
₄ time, alternating several times with³
₄ time.^[80]

A fourth example from Ravel is a particularly intense, if brief use of quintuples for symbolic purposes. This isFrontispice for two pianos (1918), written at the request ofRicciotto Canudo to accompany a philosophical meditation onWorld War I, titledS.P. 503, le poème du Vardar. Canudo's title bears the numerical designation of the postal sector of his combat division, and Ravel used the numbers as the basis of his composition. Five staves of music, "'progressing' vertically from flats through naturals to sharps, are played by five hands (three players) in meters of¹⁵
₈ (i.e.,^(3×5)
₍₃₊₅₎) and⁵
₄".^[81]

The Basque setting ofPierre Loti's playRamuntcho made the inclusion of Basque traditional melodies in the incidental music composed for it in 1907 byGabriel Pierné a natural choice. Pierné included at the end of act 2 an arrangement of the Basque anthemGernikako Arbola byJosé María Iparraguirre, which is inzortziko rhythm,^[82] but he also quotes traditionalzortziko melodies, as well as imitating their quintuple rhythms, in the opening "Ouverture sur des thèmes populaires basques"^[83] as well as in the "Rapsodie basque" that serves as an interlude between the first and second tableaux of act 2.^[84] Pierné, who was attracted to quintuple meter as part of a broader taste for exoticism,^[85] also employed quintuple meter in his Piano Quintet, Op. 41 (1917), and in theFantaisie basque, Op. 49 (1927), for violin and orchestra. The outer sections of the second movement of the Quintet are in⁵
₈ time, and marked "Sur une rythme de Zortzico",^[86] while the contrasting central section superimposes²⁰
₈ on⁴
₂ time, in "quadruple quintuple" meter.^[87] In theFantaisie, a long section near the beginning is in⁵
₈ time, and is marked "Rythme de Zortzico".^[88]

Igor Stravinsky's name is often associated with rhythmic innovation in the 20th century, and quintuple meter is sometimes found in his music—for example, the fugato variation in the second movement of hisOctet (1922–1923) is written almost uniformly in⁵
₈ time.^[89] Much more characteristically, however, quintuple bars in Stravinsky's scores are found in a context of constantly changing meters, as for example in his balletThe Rite of Spring (1911–1913), where the object appears to be the combination of two- and three-note subdivisions in irregular groupings.^[90]

This treatment of rhythm subsequently became so habitual for Stravinsky that, when he composed hisSymphony in C in 1938–1940, he found it worth observing that the first movement had no changes of meter at all (though the metrical irregularities in the third movement of the same work were amongst the most extreme in his entire output).^{[citation needed]}

So many other composers followed Stravinsky's example in the use of irregular meters that the occasional occurrence of quintuple-time bars becomes unremarkable from the 1920s onward.^[31] Entire movements with a constant five-to-a-bar rhythm are less-often encountered. An example is the second-movement "Lament" of theDouble Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra, Op. 49 (1929), by Gustav Holst.^[91] One particularly notable pre–World War II quintuple-meter composition is the popular first movement, "Aria (Cantilena)" (1938), of theBachianas Brasileiras no. 5 byHeitor Villa-Lobos (the second movement was added only in 1945). The opening and closing parts of this aria for soprano and orchestra of cellos is predominantly in⁵
₄, and the middle section is entirely in that meter.^[92]

Written during the war, the third movement,Andante calmo, ofBenjamin Britten'sString Quartet No. 1 (1941) is in⁵
₄.^[93] TheLudus Tonalis byHindemith (1942) has several instances of quintuple meter: itsPreludium and retrograde-invertedPostludium each have aSolenne, largo section in¹⁵
₈;^[94] Fugue II in G is in⁵
₈;^[95] and though Fugue VIII in D^[96] is notated in⁴
₄, itsmusic is predominantly in⁵
₄, so shifts one beat forward each measure with respect to its notated meter.^{[original research?]} ThePassacaglia for piano (1943) byWalter Piston is in quintuple meter.^[97]

In the post-war period,Gian Carlo Menotti used a quintuple-meter funeral march as an instrumental transition to the final scene of his operaThe Consul (1950),^[98] and Britten set "Green Leaves Are We, Red Rose Our Golden Queen", the opening chorus from his operaGloriana, Op. 53 (1952–1953, rev. 1966), in⁵
₄ time.^[99]Dmitri Shostakovich set Fugues 12, 17, and 19 from hisTwenty-Four Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 87 (1950–1951) entirely in⁵
₄ time, and also interspersed this time signature with other meters in Preludes 9, 20, and 24, and in Fugues 15 and 16 from the same collection.^[100] Fugue No 17 in A♭ major follows in the Slavic tradition of "naturally" flowing music in five time.^[101]

Quintuple meter is sometimes employed to characterize particular variations of works invariation form. Examples include the third movement, "Variations on a Ground", from the Double Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra, Op. 49 (1929), by Gustav Holst (11th and 18th variations in⁵
₄),^[102] "Variation IV: Più mosso" (in⁵
₈ time), in Part I ofThe Age of Anxiety: Symphony No. 2 (1949) byLeonard Bernstein.^[103] Britten composed hisCanticle III ("Still Falls the Rain"), Op. 55 (1954), in variation form, with the "Theme", "Variation IV", and "Variation VI" all in⁵
₄.^[104] In a similar fashion, extended single-movement compositions may set off large sections by using contrasting meters. Quintuple meter is used in this way byRob du Bois in his Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra (1979), where bars 160–175 and 227–277 are in⁵
₈.^[105]

In theminimal music that emerged in the late 1960s, quintuple meter is not often encountered. A rare exception is found in an early work bySteve Reich,Reed Phase (1966), which is built on the constant repetition of a five-note basic unit in steady eighth notes.^[106]

 

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Reich was not satisfied with the result, largely because of the failure of the meter to produce the kind of rhythmic ambiguity found in the 12-beat patterns he came to favour:

which can divide up in very different ways; and that ambiguity as to whether you're in duple or triple time is, in fact, the rhythmic life-blood of much of my music. In this way, one's listening mind can shift back and forth within the musical fabric, because the fabricencourages that. But if you don't build in that flexibility of perspective, then you wind up with something extremely flat-footed and boring.^[107]

Reich's 1979 Octet (originally scored for two pianos, string quartet, and two wind players who perform on both flutes and clarinets), revised and rescored asEight Lines) is entirely in quintuple time.^[108]

A survey of American popular music found that the most common accent pattern used in quintuple meter isstrong-weak-weak-medium-weak.^[109]

Until after the Second World War, quintuple time was virtually unheard of in the American genres ofjazz and popular music. When in 1944, Stravinsky was commissioned byBilly Rose to compose a fifteen-minute dance component to be incorporated into his Broadway revue,The Seven Lively Arts, Stravinsky composedScènes de ballet, to be choreographed byAnton Dolin. Rose was enthusiastic about the new score when initially he saw the piano reduction made byIngolf Dahl, but later was dismayed by the sound of the orchestra, and offended the composer by telegraphing the suggestion that Stravinsky should allow the scoring to be "retouched" byRobert Russell Bennett, who "orchestrates even the works ofCole Porter".^[110] Whole sections of the score had to be cut for the Philadelphia premiere, because the New Yorkpit musicians, accustomed to the conventions ofBroadway musicals of that period, were unable to manage the⁵
₈ bars that feature in Stravinsky's score.^[111]

A dozen years later, things were changing in musical theater in New York.Leonard Bernstein'sCandide opened on Broadway in December 1956, and featured a variety of meters that Billy Rose's musicians would have found as impossible as Stravinsky's. In act 1, the quartet "Universal Good" is a chorale in⁵
₄ time, and the main verses of "Ballad of Eldorado" in act 2 are in⁵
₈, with turnarounds in⁷
₈ or³
₄ +⁷
₈.^[112]Mary Rodgers's 1959Once Upon a Mattress featured the⁵
₄ song "Sensitivity".^[113] Later examples in musical theater include the song "Everything's Alright", fromJesus Christ Superstar (1971), byAndrew Lloyd Webber, which is mainly in⁵
₄,^[114] and "Ladies in Their Sensitivities" fromStephen Sondheim'sSweeney Todd (1979), which is in⁵
₈.^[115] Sondheim also alternates⁵
₄ with⁴
₄ (at the passage beginning "Living like a shut-in") and⁵
₄ and⁶
₄ (at "All I ever dreamed I'd be") in the song "In Buddy's Eyes' fromFollies (1971).^[116]

In 1914, American ragtime composersJames Reese Europe andFord Dabney composed and recorded a dance tune in⁵
₄ called "Castles' Half and Half", based on a dance created byVernon and Irene Castle (described as a "hesitation waltz"). Additional tunes in⁵
₄ were also composed by others in 1914 to accompany the dance.^{[117][118][119]}

In 1959, theDave Brubeck Quartet releasedTime Out, a jazz album with music in unusual meters. It includedPaul Desmond's "Take Five", in⁵
₄ time.^[120] Brubeck had studied with the French composerDarius Milhaud, who in turn had been strongly influenced by Stravinsky, and is credited with the systematic introduction of asymmetrical and shifting rhythms that sparked a far-reaching surge of interest in jazz and popular music in the 1960s.^[121]

The 1960Max Roach albumWe Insist! contains three tracks making use of⁵
₄.^[122]

Starting in 1964, the trumpeter and band leaderDon Ellis sought to fuse traditional big-band styles with rhythms borrowed from Indian and Near Eastern music; this was largely initiated by his UCLA ethnomusicology studies with Indian percussionist and sitar playerHarihar Rao and his contact with Turkish-American music producerArif Mardin.^[123][124] For example, one of his largest works,Variations for Trumpet, is divided into six sections with meters including⁵
₄,⁹
₄,⁷
₄, and³²
₈.^[123] Two other Ellis compositions are entirely in⁵
₄ time: "Indian Lady" and "5/4 Getaway".^[125]

In 1966, the popular American television drama seriesMission: Impossible began a seven-season run with the⁵
₄ "Theme from Mission: Impossible" byLalo Schifrin.^[126] Schifrin said he wrote several compositions usingMorse code as the rhythmic basis. Morse code for the initials of Mission Impossible (M.I.) is "_ _ .."; if a dot is one beat and a dash is one and a half beats, then this gives a bar of five beats, exactly matching the underlying rhythm.^[127]

In 1968,Leonard Feather interviewed pianistJohnny Guarnieri inDownBeat magazine;^[128] Guarnieri had spent the last few years working up arrangements of jazz standards changed to a⁵
₄ rhythm. Guarnieri stated "I can forsee 5/4, within the next few years, sweeping the world completely". Shortly afterwards, Guarnieri released an album on BET records calledBreakthrough in 5/4, which consisted of original compositions in⁵
₄, jazz standards changed to⁵
₄, as well as a version ofYesterday in⁵
₄.^[129]

In the late 1960s, quintuple meters began to appear with some frequency in rock-music contexts as well, where exploration of meters other than⁴
₄ became one of the hallmarks ofprogressive rock. One of the earliest examples is "Grim Reaper of Love" byThe Turtles (May 1966).^[130] Another early example is the instrumental that ends theGeorge Harrison song "Within You Without You" (from the 1967Beatles' LP "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band");^[131] isolated⁵
₄ bars also occur in the Beatles' songs "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and "Across the Universe".^[132][133] TheByrds' LPThe Notorious Byrd Brothers (recorded in the second half of 1967, and released in January 1968) contained two songs using quintuple meter, "Get to You" and "Tribal Gathering".^[134]

Under the influence of Brubeck,Keith Emerson ofEmerson, Lake & Palmer began exploring unusual meters at about this same time. His first quintuple-meter piece was "Azrael, the Angel of Death", written in 1968, and the meter cropped up again three years later in the opening instrumental section, "Eruption", of thetitle track and some later passages from the albumTarkus.^[135]

Frank Zappa frequently played in 5; two specific documented examples are "Flower Punk" from 1968 (a repeating pattern of 4 bars of 5 followed by 4 bars of 7)^[136] and "Five Five Five" (bars of⁵
₈ combined with bars of⁵
₄).^[137] Zappa even had a hand signal with which he could cue the band to quickly switch into a quintuple meter at any time during a live performance.^[138]

• "Alphys" (fromUndertale) byToby Fox – last movement is in⁵
  ₄^[166]
• "Animals" byMuse.^[167]
• "Cleopatra" byWeezer. Alternates⁵
  ₄ with⁴
  ₄^[168]
• "Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition – Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream)" fromIllinois (2005) bySufjan Stevens (⁵
  ₄ and⁴
  ₄).^[169]
• "Down And Out" byGenesis (⁵
  ₄).^[170]
• "ENDYMION" (fromDance Dance Revolution A) byfallen shepherd ft. RabbiTon Strings (⁵
  ₄).^[171]
• "Erotomania" (part I of III of the suite called "A Mind Beside Itself") fromAwake, byDream Theater. Begins with⁵
  ₄ +⁵
  ₄ +⁵
  ₄ +⁹
  ₈, then⁵
  ₄ +⁵
  ₄ +⁵
  ₄ +³
  ₄ +³
  ₄ +²
  ₄, then¹¹
  ₈ +¹⁰
  ₈ etc.^[172]
• "Vs. Ridley" (fromSuper Metroid) by Minako Hamano. Song starts in⁵
  ₄ but goes to⁴
  ₄ and then³
  ₄. Second part reverses this by going to³
  ₄ then⁴
  ₄.^[173]
• "The Fixer" byPearl Jam. The song begins in⁵
  ₄ but most of it is in⁶
  ₄ and⁴
  ₄.^[174]
• "Four Sticks" byLed Zeppelin. Verses alternate⁵
  ₄ and³
  ₄ passages; choruses are in³
  ₄.^[175]
• "Five Magics" byMegadeth. Predominantly in⁴
  ₄ with sections in both⁵
  ₈ and⁵
  ₄.^[176]
• "The Grudge" byTool.^[177]
• "The Hammer" fromMatilda the Musical byTim Minchin: begins in⁵
  ₄.^[178]
• "Happy Jack" bythe Who. Verses partly in⁵
  ₄.^[179]
• "Innuendo" byQueen.^[180]
• "Larks Tongues In Aspic" byKing Crimson (partially in⁵
  ₄ and⁵
  ₈).^[181]
• "Lorca" byTim Buckley, from the 1970 albumLorca.^[182]
• "Moon" byBjörk (¹⁷
  ₈ and⁵
  ₈).^[183]
• "Mother" (fromThe Wall) and "Two Suns in the Sunset" (fromThe Final Cut), both byPink Floyd (⁵
  ₄).^[184]
• "My Wave" bySoundgarden, verse in⁵
  ₄.^[185]
• "Neon Pattern Drum" byJon Hopkins has "⁵
  ₄ and⁴
  ₄ time signatures operat[ing] simultaneously".^[186]
• "953" byBlack Midi^[187]
• "The Number of the Beast" byIron Maiden^[188]
• "Og det bli'r sommer igen" byLars Lilholt Band; bar 3 is in⁵
  ₄.^[189]
• "Overground" bySiouxsie and the Banshees.
• Percolator byStereolab is in 5/4 throughout. This is referenced in the alternate set list title for the song of Take 5 1/2^[190]
• "Pray You Catch Me" byBeyoncé,James Blake, andKevin Garrett, alternating²
  ₄ +³
  ₄.^[191]
• "Prequel to the Sequel" byBetween the Buried and Me has some scattered bars in⁵
  ₈ and other time signatures.^[192]
• "Question!" bySystem of a Down (⁵
  ₄).^[193]
• "Red" byKing Crimson, from the albumRed (⁵
  ₈).^[194]
• "The River" byKing Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is in⁵
  ₄ until the final verse, which switches to⁴
  ₄ through the outro.^[195]
• "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse" byStereolab has a section in⁵
  ₄.^[196]
• "Rosetta Stoned" byTool.^[197]
• "Sound Chaser" byYes, main theme in⁵
  ₄.^[198]
• "Kid Gloves" byRush.^[199]
• "Streamline" bySystem of a Down, the majority of the chorus is in⁵
  ₄ while the rest of the song is written in⁶
  ₄^[200]
• "TWX in 12 Bars" by Donald Swartz, the theme for the TV programWall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser.
• "We Are the Involuntary" byUnderoath has some bars that can be transcribed in⁵
  ₄.^[201]
• "White Room" by Cream. An opening in⁵
  ₄ , which is used twice later in the song, as a bridge and an interlude.^[150]
• "YYZ" byRush opens in⁵
  ₄ using a musical interpretation of theToronto Pearson International AirportIATA identifier code usingMorse code.^[202]

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• Miner, Ansorena, and José Ignacio. 1993. "El zortziko: La frase de ocho compases y el compás de cinco por ocho".Txistulari, no. 155 (July–September).
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