The Short

3 The Notation of Accents and Dynamics
In the middle of the eighteenth century expressive accentuation and dynamic nuance was left largely to the discretion
of the performer. As a rule, composers indicated only the most important dynamic contrasts and accents in their
music. J. A. P. Schulz remarked in 1771 that dynamic marks ‘are often put there only so that very crude improprieties
may not be committed … they would, if they were really adequate, often have to be put under every note of a piece’. 146
For the effectiveness of their music in this respect, composers relied on performers' taste and experience in applying
generally understood principles of phrasing and accent. To a great extent, therefore, stylish accentuation and dynamic
shading during the late eighteenth century depended on the executant's recognition of the phrase structure of the
music, its character, and so on. Even in the middle years of the eighteenth century this was seen to present
considerable difficulties for the average performer; it was felt to be so subtle and variable that, as Schulz had implied, it
could only effectively be learned from observing great musicians. 147
The markings employed in mid-eighteenth-century music to indicate the contrasts and accents that composers
regarded as essential were few and, as a rule, sparingly introduced. These instructions might encompass ‘fortissimo’,
‘forte’, ‘poco forte’, ‘mezzo forte’, ‘piano’, ‘pianissimo’, and from time to time, composers who were especially
concerned to achieve a quite specific effect, such as Gluck, might employ less common terms like ‘piano assai’ 148 where
something particularly arresting was required (Ex. 3.1.) The additional dynamic shading and accentuation supplied by
performers, partly in accordance
146
In Sulzer, Allgemeine Theorie, 2nd edn. iv. 709.
147
Ibid. (quoted in Ch. 1 above, n. 55.)
148
e.g. in the Vienna MS of Gluck's Semiramide reconosciuta. österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. mus. 17.793, repr. in Italian Opera 1640–1770 (New York, Garland, 1982).