Illustration of compound 4_4
compound 4_4
- Definition:
A meter notated as C or 4/4 in baroque movements that
motivically emphasize half-bar units. Movements in compound
4/4 typically contain pervasive eighth and sixteenth-note
motion, harmonic rhythm in half notes or quarter notes, and
non-regular phrase lengths comprised of even and odd numbers
of half-bar units. Leading eighteenth theorists, including
Mattheson, Walther, Marpurg, Scheibe, Koch, and Riepl,
ascribed equal metric weight to the first and third quarter-
note beats of compound 4/4 measures. The metrical accents in
a compound 4/4 measure therefore suggest a succession of two
measures of 2/4. In choosing between compound meters
(e.g., 4/2, 4/4, 12/8) and their simple equivalents
(2/2, 4/4, 6/8), baroque composers typically followed
traditions of tempo and style. Simple meters customarily
suggested lightness and quick tempi, as in the bourée,
passapied, and fast gigues and finales. Compound meters were
employed in more weighty movements, including allemandes,
first movements of concertos, preludes, and slow
introductions. The stately common time indicated in fugues
often was called "large 4/4" to suggest a notational variant
of the compound "large alla breve" (4/2) meter associated
with sacred music and the stile antico. See Burkhart (1994).
