Re: \time 9/8 (3/4)

[Eef Weenink]

The question started with a piece of Liszt. It has to be played adante. Time is 
set:
first part:  9/8 (3/4)
second part: 6/8 (2/4) istesso tempo (means that a 1/4 stays 1/4. So the 
duration of the measure changes). 

Writing it this way, prevents printing the triplet everywhere. 
The feel of the piece is for sure 3/4 resp. 2/4. 

NB: I also have seen similar pieces where, the composer/arranger, just wrote it 
is this way, without mentioning it in the time. When reading it, you suddenly 
see 3 x 1/8 in a 1/4. (OK this must be triplets :-) and of you go. 

Eef

> Op 29 jul. 2022, om 14:10 heeft David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> het volgende 
> geschreven:
> 
> Kieren MacMillan <kieren@kierenmacmillan.info> writes:
> 
>> Hi Carl,
>> 
>>> Just curious, because I know precious little about polymetry.
>>> Does 9/8 (3/4) mean anything different from (3 + 3 + 3)/8 ?
>> 
>> Yes: the parenthetical notation is usually an instruction to alternate
>> time signatures, not simply a clarification of intention. For example,
>> in “West Side Story”, Bernstein uses 6/8 (3/4) to indicate that
>> alternate bars should be felt/conducted as 6/8 then 3/4 then 6/8 then
>> 3/4…
> 
> Just as an observation: "America" has much more of a triplet feeling in
> its 6/8 to me than the 3rd movement of BWV1041 has in its 9/8.  Partly
> it may be the syllabic rendition, partly the simple melodic structure.
> 
> -- 
> David Kastrup