Kieren MacMillan <[email protected]> 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
