Take Five

A sequence of music for five viols, some of it in five time, including Take Five, made famous by Dave Brubeck but actually written by his saxophonist, Paul Desmond.

But there's music in five by Christopher Tye from the 1530s and by John Baldwin, the extraordinary 'Proporcions to the minim: five minims', and Radiohead's 'Everything in its right place'. Orlando Gough's 'Birds on Fire' places Klezmer tunes against Viennese schmalz with five beats to the bar, while Arvo Pärt's 'Fratres' is in a constantly expanding and contracting time frame.