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As the principles of sentence-formation are closely involved with the general subject of rhythm, something must be known about the number of beats within the measure itself. While it is true that we Anglo-Saxons tend to think in terms of 2 and 3 or their multiples, i.e., our customary measures consist of 2 or 4 beats or of 3, 6, 9 and 12, in modern music—particularly that of other races (the Slavs, Hungarians, etc.)—we often find measures with 5 and 7 beats and even phrases containing a mixture of rhythms. Three excellent examples of compositions with measures of 5 beats each are the Slow Movement of Chopin's Sonata in C minor, op. 4, the F-sharp major portion of d'Indy's Symphonic Variations, Istar, and the second movement of Tchaikowsky Sixth Symphony, e.g.
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A delightful example of a melody with 7 beats a measure is the Andante Grazioso of Brahms's Trio in C minor, op. 101—the result undoubtedly of his well-known fondness for Hungarian music, e.g.
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The following theme from Tchaikowsky's Quartet in F major, notwithstanding the time signature, certainly gives the effect of a long, seven-beat measure, e.g.
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