The Short

54 ACCENTUATION IN PRACTICE
It is to be observed of the accented notes that they must be performed emphatically with strength and receive an
imperceptibly longer value than their specified one; but the correct tempo or specified duration of a bar may not be
altered. The worth over and above its proper value which the emphasized beat receives is taken from the following
beat (in a few cases also from the preceding). Also, in particularly emotional passages the equality of the beat will
often be restored only in the following bar. 136
Some twenty years later Crelle implied the possibility of lengthening as a concomitant of accent in a rather roundabout
way when he observed that all accented notes ‘do not hurry’. 137 (His recommendations also contain more explicit
advice for rhythmic flexibility, which will be considered below.) Garcia, discussing tempo rubato, explicitly linked the
practice of lingering with accentuation. He observed: ‘This prolongation is usually conceded to appoggiaturas, to notes
placed on long syllables, and those which are naturally salient in the harmony In all such cases, the time lost must be
regained by accelerating other notes. This is a good method for giving colour and variety to melodies’ 138 (Ex. 2.34.)
After his discussion of accentuation in general, he commented: ‘We may likewise observe, that both accent and
prolongation follow nearly similar laws.’ 139
Ex. 2.34.Garcia, New Treatise, 51
The ability to employ agogic accentuation effectively, where appropriate, continued to be regarded throughout the
nineteenth century as an essential aspect of more advanced artistry. Arrey von Dommer put forward the standard view
when he stated that correct accentuation involves
a freer treatment of the simple metrical accents in respect of the accentuation of the beats, and in addition there may
be deviations from the strict regularity of tempo in that single notes that are to be particularly emphatically brought
out may well be held a little bit longer; others that have to be subordinated may well be somewhat shortened. 140
136
p. 102 .
137
Einiges, 61.
138
New Treatise, 51.
139
Ibid. 52.
140
Musikalisches Lexikon, 16.