The majority of this work is written in either 7/8 or 5/4. The sections in 7 always adhere to the same rhythmic pattern : 2+2+3, much in the manner of No 2 of Bartok's Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm from Vol V1 of his Mikrokosmos. This rhythm is endemic to the Richenitsa, a dance often played at weddings in Bulgaria. The bars of the 5/4 sections are subdivided into 3+2 as in Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. There is a central section ( 86-131 ) which employs the more symmetrical time signatures of 4/4 and 3/4 but, like the outer cores of the composition, the rhythmic drive is unrelenting.
