The Greek term diapente is used in music as a synonym for the interval of the perfect fifth, dia meaning “over”, pente “five”.
Johann Mattheson, for instance, gives the following description:
“The fifth is called diapente, i.e. “over five”, because it comprises five diatonic tones, of which the two outermost, as endpoints, are principally perceived.”1
“Die Quint heisset … Diapente, d. i. über fünf, weil sie fünf diatonische Klänge begreifft, davon die beiden äussersten, als Enden, hauptsächlich vernommen werden
See also diatessaron, hemidiapente and diapason.
Notes
- Mattheson, 1739: 46. ↩︎
(Very) Select Bibliography
Baragwanath, Nicholas. Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the “Thread” of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, Op. 3 No. 10 (RV 580), in: Music Theory & Analysis 11/1 (2024), 48–77.
Mattheson, Johann. Der vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739).
Walther, Johann Gottfried. Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732).