Rhythm and Metre Cages Sonatas for prepared piano: 1-3 includes rhythm as a very important structural element.

Each sonata has its own structural proportions, determined by patterns of duration. They also have a principal mood defined by its rhythmic style. There is also an obvious rhythmic patterning in each sonatas structure, and the ideas are short and fragmentary, and feature irregularly. Sonata 1 has a slow tempo, crotchet pulse and is mostly grouped in fours and twos, with some disturbances, for example in bars 9-12. The opening 2 chords give rhythmic definition to the style, and return in bar 3 and 18-19. Between these chords, the rhythm is free and varied, and regular crotchet movement closes the sonata. Sonata 2 has a fast tempo, mainly in 4/4 time with 3/8 silent bars between phrases. Bars 1-9 feature a monophonic quaver idea which morphs into a 2 part quaver idea with cross phrasing in bars 1014. Freer rhythms develop, increasing in speed in the right hand and decreasing in the left, for example bars 28-31. There is a moment of pause in bars 32-33 before the conclusion, and a final flurry of rhythmically fast by indeterminate notes conclude the piece. The third sonata is in a slow minim beat, with bars 1-8 featuring a regular left hand disturbed by rhythmic irregularity in the right hand repetitions. A new section in bars 9-15 is clear through use of steady crotchet rhythms but the right hand idea returns in bar 16-18. Bars 19-29 feature both hands engaging in the development of the chromatic crotchet motif and the end is signalled in bars 29-32 by the return of the opening right hand idea and the change in the left hand from moving crotchets to isolated chords, similar to the opening. Corellis Trio Sonata in D, Op 3 No. 2: movement IV is in a gigue style, 6/8 time with a fast tempo. There is very economical use of rhythmic patterns: material comprises quavers and semiquavers, plus a crotchet. Further, the quavers are frequently grouped in threes, and the semiquavers almost always appear in fours. Apart from a few long sustaining notes, only dotted crotchets are additionally used. Finally, hemiolas are used in Bars 27 and 31 to enhance the modulating cadences. In Pavana Lachrimae, by Sweelinck, there is use of steady quadruple metre throughout, although, at the tempo it uses, it actually feels like duple metre: 2/2. There is a wide range of rhythmic values; generally shorter values are employed in the decorated variation strains, for example bars 25-30, in comparison with the opening 16 bars. There is a tendency to use quicker note values as approaching the final cadence of each strain; the final cadence in bar 63 is an example. Also featured are the occasional moto perpetuo passages, for example in bars 23-32, showing a continuous and steady stream of notes, mimicking the falling tears. Mozarts piano sonata in Bb, K333, movement 1 is a typically classical depiction of relatively straightforward divisions of the beat, with regular phrasing and only occasional syncopation, for example in bar 9. The uses of motifs also feature rhythm and metre; the second subject at bar 24 is rhythmically identical to bar 1s first subject. The offbeat crotchet rhythm from the first subject (RH bar 5) occurs in the second subject at bars 25 and 29.

Kathy Chalmers

Bar 64 features the development section, opening with the first subject motif in F major. The three-quaver rhythm that ends bar 1 is then developed in the right hand at the end of bars 66, 67 and 69. Harold in Italy: movement 3 by Berlioz features compound duple metre throughout, with the Allegretto half the tempo of the Allegro assai. The coda at bar 166 shows an interesting combination of 6/8 metre at half/double time, causing cross-rhythms between tutti viola accompaniment and solo viola serenade melody/flute and harp ide fixe. The traditional Saltarello melody that the A section is based upon is an Italian folk dance, characterised by wild hopping steps in fast compound time. Mainly two brief rhythms are used repetitively: in bar 4 & bar 7 the melody appears in a dance style, the second beat accents on second rhythmic idea. Brevity of ideas allows for repeats and combinations, which create irregular phrasing. The Serenade at bar 32 shows some mix of 6/8 and 3/4 time, for example, bars 37&38 depict the cor anglais rhythm over the clear compound time string accompaniment. Bars 132/133 show semiquaver ornamentation of the same idea. At bar 48, there is a semiquaver accompaniment figure in clarinet. This theme continues at bar 77 with triplet semiquavers, clearly an ornamentation of melodic line. Bar 192 features a touch of rhythmic augmentation in the viola solo, where the semiquavers become quavers. Finally at bar 194, the Ideas fragment to create the effect of an impressive Rit; the ideas are increasingly spaced, and lead to longer notes. Shostakovichs string quartet no. 8 op 110 movement 1 also features relatively simple divisions, with no syncopation at all. Dotted figure stands out because it is used so rarely, for example bars 110-111. Despite the 4/4 time signature, the metronome mark indicates a slow minim beat, ie 2/2, similar to the feel of Pavana Lachrimae by Sweelinck. Ram Narayans Rag Bhairav begins with the alap section, which includes no metre. It is a rhythmically free combination of different note lengths, emphasising the important notes of the rag, particularly Dha and Re. Figures increase in rhythmic excitement, particularly when the tans arrive in line 14. When the table enters on line 19, it performs a tintal, which is divided into vibhags of 4 beats each. The rhythmic complexity increases with the feature of improvisational scalic runs, along with accelerandos, for example, bars 29 and 31.

Kathy Chalmers