"Carrure
Nom féminin.
Symétrie établie entre les divisions de la phrase musicale, de manière à partager celle-ci en fragment d’une durée égale. On applique spécialement l’épithète de carrées aux formes mélodiques dont les périodes procèdent par 4 et multiples de 4 : une phrase de 8 mesures partagées en deux membres égaux de chacun 4 mesures; une phrase de 16 mesures partagée en 4 fragments de 4 mesures. Les maîtres anciens, qui écrivaient principalement pour les voix et sans couper leur notation de barres de mesure, ne s’astreignaient à la carrure que dans les pièces destinées à accompagner la danse; c’est de là qu’elle s’est imposée à la musique instrumentale, et, pendant l’époque classique, à tous les genres de compositions."


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Note added at 1 hr (2014-06-11 08:27:34 GMT)
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I don't meet criteria officially, but Royal Schools of Music Grade V theory, Grade 7 piano and Grade 8 bassoon, way back in the 1970's!

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-06-11 08:38:37 GMT)
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Here's a shorter definition in French, which may be helpful although I suspect oversimplified: http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/carrure
"Répartition d’une phrase musicale en mesures égales."

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-06-11 08:49:46 GMT)
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No worries Victoria. I'm curious to know if there is an EN term for this. I've put the question to my brother, composer/producer but he may be busy and take time coming back.


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Note added at 3 hrs (2014-06-11 11:03:20 GMT)
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http://mjcj.com/WordPress/?page_id=395

Symmetrical phrasing – gives a sense of repose. Romantics went for assymetry of form

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Note added at 3 hrs (2014-06-11 11:07:45 GMT)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(music)

"There is generally a pause in the melody in a cadence at the end of the shorter lines so that the underlying musical meter is 8:8:8:8 beats, the cadences dividing this musically into two symmetrical "normal" phrases of four measures each (MacPherson 1930, 14)."

"Changing meter[edit]
In twentieth century concert music, it became more common to switch meter—the end of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is an example. A metric modulation is a modulation from one metric unit or meter to another. The use of asymmetrical rhythms also became more common: such meters include quintuple as well as more complex additive meters along the lines of 2+2+3 time, where each bar has two 2-beat units and a 3-beat unit with a stress at the beginning of each unit. Similar meters are used in various folk music as well as some music by Philip Glass. Additive meters may be conceived either as long, irregular meters or as constantly changing short meters."

" In classical music, the four bar hypermeter is a commonly observed practice, constituting the basis of symmetrical phrasing."

Phrasing and "-meter" are related of course as "meter" describes measure.