Music Teachers National Association

Accent? Decrescendo?
Author(s): Konrad Wolff
Source: American Music Teacher, Vol. 38, No. 3 (January 1989), pp. 14-17, 63
Published by: Music Teachers National Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43549523
Accessed: 21-11-2017 19:44 UTC

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 Accent? Decrescendo ?
How can performers know
whether, in a
printed edition,
the hook they see
is an accent mark or
a decrescendo sign ?
14 JANUARY
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by Konrad Wolff
Accent marks remained exceptional
instead of words to in Beethoven's scores to the end;
indicate dynamic however, he was the composer who
shadings seems to first developed the crescendo-
have started only decrescendo marks as a replacement for
around 1800, when these actual words. Very often, though,
THE have around shadings instead indicate the fp use started signs the
of of 1800, dynafp
mic se ms signs
words symbols that onlthat
y when to to he still used words whenever the
Mozart used for smaller accents (sf crescendo and decrescendo cover a
being reserved for big ones) were larger area within the whole. An ex-
replaced by small hooks with sharp ample may be found in the Sonata in A-
edges open on the left. The Bohemian-flat Major, Op. 110, where a crescendo
born composer and pianist Jan Ladislavoccurs from measure 39 to measure 43
Dussek uses crescendo signs without in the first movement. This entire tran-
corresponding decrescendo signs as sition from exposition to development
early as 1792-93 in his Sonata in A is meant to bring about a gradual
Minor, Op. 18, No. 2.1 Crescendo, increase in sound. A little later, during
decrescendo and accent marks become the development itself, small nuances of
most important in the works of Chopin volume are indicated by crescendo-
and Schubert, but in Beethoven's music, decrescendo signs.
they remain rare. In the beginning of the same move-
One of the earliest instances of ment one finds a sign in the autograph
dynamic symbols in Beethoven's pianomanuscript that is not reproduced iden-
music occurs in the finale of his Sonata tically in any printed edition known to
in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, composed this author. The crescendo-decrescendo
before 1803. An accent mark appears on the long trill in the fourth measure
above the melody note B-flat in the is designed by Beethoven so that the
third measure. (See Example 1.) Har- ends of the two signs touch, appearing
monically, it serves to clarify the as a rhombus - an oblique-angled
dominant-tonic fall to the fourth meas- equilateral parallelogram. There is little
ure and thereby strengthens the unity doubt that Beethoven wanted the sign
of the phrase. A stronger accent, such just like that, for he took the trouble to
as sf would have disrupted the taran- draw it a second time on top of the first
tella rhythm. Even a fp would have rhombus to be sure it was legible as
been too strong for this mainly such. (See Example 2.)
declamatory stress in the top voice. One reason for this graphic design
The example also shows that usually may have been that the rhombus
a decrescendo is implied in any accent appears between a crescendo sign in
mark. By highlighting the B-flat and measure 3 and a diminuendo sign at
thereby de-emphasizing the E-flat at the the very end of measure 4. (See Ex-
corresponding place in the next meas- ample 3 ) Beethoven's special rhombus
ure, Beethoven automatically achieves design prevents the performer from
a decrescendo from the former to associating the decrescendo at the end
the latter. of the trill with the crescendo in meas-
ure 3. Beethoven seems to have used
Konrad Wolff is a pianist and the rhombus to differentiate the trill
author of books on music and musi- dynamics from those governing the
cians who is based in New York City. phrase as a whole.
1989
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 Example 1: Beethoven Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 31,
No. 3, finale, m. 3

Example 2: Beethoven Sonata in

A-flat Major, Op. 1 10, first move-
rhombus signs in ment, m. 4; copied from facsimi-
Beethoven's piano music lie edited by K. M. Komma
(Stuttgart: Ithchy, 1967)
may be found in the facsi-
mile of the Bagatel es Op.
126, edited by Sieghard
Further mile may Beethoven's rhombus Brandenburg.2 126Br,anbedeneburditge.2dFiovfe stuhche found instances signs by Bagatel es piano in Sieghard in Five the of
signs appear, for example, in measures
21 through 25 of Opus 126, No. 1. The
first edition of these Bagatel es,
reprinted along with the facsimile, also
contains the rhombus signs. (Se Exam-
ple 4.) Example 3: Beethoven Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110,
Beethoven surely did not invent the first movement, mm. 3-4; copied from facsimile edited
by K. M. Komma (Stuttgart: Ithchy, 1967)
rhombus. He probably picked it up
from the signs for the traditional, early
Baroque messa di voce - the swelling
and deswelling on one note. The Italian
violinist Francesco Geminiani, who
lived in England and Ireland from 1714
until his death in 1762, seems to have
been one of the first to use a crescendo
sign for the swelling on one note, as
well as one of the first to have
described the double swelling-
deswelling sign in his Treatise of Good
Taste (1749). That the rhombus was
used widely as a symbol for swelling
and deswelling on a single note in Clas-
sical music appears more certain when Example 4: Beethoven Bagatelle in G Major, Op. 126,
one considers, in addition to No. 1, mm. 21-25; reproduction of first edition (Mainz:
Schott, 1821)
Beethoven's music, examples found in
two Schubert Impromptus and three
Brahms Intermezzos.
In measure 129 of Schubert's
Impromptu in C Minor, Op. 90, No. 1,
the rhombus - copied as accurately as
possible from the autograph manuscript
in the Morgan Library in New York -
refers to the melody note G. Contrary 1111

to most printed editions, in which the

decrescendo reaches to the end of the Example 5:
No. 1, m. 1
measure, the autograph manuscript con-
Pierpont Mo
fines the dynamic event strictly to the
three beats of the top note. (See Ex-
ample 5.) A similar occurance is found
in measure 134, where the rhombus
applies to the melody note B-flat.
In the Impromptu in G-flat Major,
Op. 90, No. 3, an almost identical situa-
tion occurs in measure 4, except that in
the autograph the swell begins before
the melody note B-flat is heard. (See
Example 6.) Yet another example may Example 6:
be found in connection with the A-flat 90, No. 3, m

melody note in measure 7. In each of

AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 1 5

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Example 7: Schubert Impromptu in C Minor, Op. 90,
No. 1, mm. 80-81; copied from autograph manuscript

these cases, the rhombus refers to a

single tone. On the piano, the swelling
of a single tone, in the absence of a trill
(which was present in the Beethoven
example), can be achieved only by a
crescendo in moving, accompanying
voices. In later music, especially piano
music, the rhombus occasionally is
used also for a closely connected group
of notes.

Example 8: Schubert Impromptu in C Minor, Op. 90, The noted German pianist Detlef
No. 1, mm. 80-81; Bärenreiter edition Kraus, in his monograph on Brahms's
piano music, wrote that Brahms, whose
knowledge of music history was
immense, used the rhombus sign on
single notes. He cites as examples the
Intermezzo Op. 76, No. 3 (measures 12
and 27), the Intermezzo Op. 116, No. 4
(measures 44 and 46) and the Inter-
mezzo Op. 118, No. 6 (measures 37 and
38). Kraus defines the signs as "the
Example 9: Schubert Impromptu in C Minor, Op. 90,
pulled-together crescendo-decrescendo
No. 1, mm. 92-93; copied from autograph manuscript sign ."3
A crescendo incorporates and symbo-
lizes the idea of prolonged effort, and a
certain amount of time is needed not
only to maintain but to increase the
volume of a note after it is sounded. By
contrast, a decrescendo is in many
cases a simple and immediate relaxation
Exa at the end of a phrase, as soon as the
No. 1, mm. 92-93; Bärenreiter edition high point is reached. This takes no
time at all, and so one finds long
crescendo forks followed by brief
decrescendo forks, especially in the
music of Schubert, who was fond of
this type of phrasing.
For the more sustained, deliberate
and structural forms of decrescendo -

Example 11: Schubert Impromptu in C Minor, Op. 90, especially where the music gradually
No. 1, m. 110; copied from autograph manuscript fades away at the end of a piece - the
use of words is more frequent than the
use of a decrescendo sign. It is in these
cases that certain composers, especially
Schubert, frequently followed the word
"decrescendo" by "diminuendo" a few
measures later to add a slight diminu-
tion of speed to that of volume. One
example occurs in measures 212
(decrescendo) and 216 (diminuendo) of
the finale of the Sonata in B-flat Major,
Op. Post. Christa Landon and Walther
Example 12: Schubert Impromptu in G-flat Major, Op. Dürr explain this meaning of
90, No. 3, mm. 25-26; copied from autograph manu-
diminuendo in the preface to the New
script
Schubert Urtext edition published by
Bärenreiter.4

16 JANUARY 1989

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 This facsimile of the autograph manu-
script of Beethoven 's Bagatelle in G Major,
Op. 126, No. 1, mm. 21-23, contains the
special ' 'rhombus ' ' dynamic symbol not
found in most modern editions.

this same Urtext edi-

tion contains a num- that the decrescendo sign may have an Schubert requested here just such an
ber of Schubert's agogic significance. Considering the agogic stress as previously described.
decrescendo signs rapid decay on the early keyboard The confusion between accent marks
incorrectly printed instruments of Schubert and Chopin, and brief decrescendo signs is not con-
Unfortunately, as incorrectly decrescendo ber this tion ac entsas. of samaccents.
e contains Schubert's Urtext printed signs a which could hold the full sound only fined to Schubert's works. Decrescendos
In measures 80 and 81 of the auto- for an instant, these decrescendo signs notated as accent marks also appear fre-
graph manuscript of the C Minor in fact amounted to a diminution of quently in editions of Chopin's music.
Impromptu - a remarkably clear script sound on one note, achieved just by Thus, signs found in the right-hand part
- the decrescendo sign extends over prolonging that note very slightly in a of the autograph manuscript of the Bar-
two or three notes. (See Example 7.) declamatory fashion. So it seems plau- carolle, Op. 60, measures 16 and 30-31,
While this decrescendo is much shorter probably should be interpreted as sible in many cases that these brief
than the previous crescendo sign, it decrescendos, when occurring in piano decrescendo signs, not as accent marks,
definitely is recognizable as a corollary parts, simply call for a minimal prolon- as appear in the Paderewski edition.5
to the previous crescendo sign. This gation of the note for which the (See Example 13.)
appears in the autograph again in meas- decrescendo is marked, until the sound The signs in measure 16 can be inter-
ures 154 and 155. However, in measures has sufficiently decreased. This is true preted as an abbreviation of the de-
76-77 and 158-59, which are almost even when the diminution is not crescendo in measure 15; a minimal
identical phrases, Schubert notated the strictly confined to one note. agogic delay in playing the fifth, eighth
sign so as to cover barely more than the In the autograph manuscript of the and eleventh eighth notes in the left
first two notes (E-flat and D-flat, Impromptu in G-flat Major, Op. 90, No. hand is all that is needed for the crea-
respectively). 3, a sign extends from the last eighth tion of such quicker sound diminution.
Users of autographs recognize that note of measure 25 to the third note of (See Example 14.) In the autograph, the
composers write most of their accents measure 26. (See Example 12.) The sign brief signs for the first two beats in
sharply and energetically; the marks are is clearly a decrescendo, not an accent measure 30 appear below the note and
small enough to fit exactly into the sign, although a sforzato occurs on the not above, as they appear in the
space of the note to which they belong. first beat of measure 26 in the bass, Paderewski edition. (See Example 15.)
Decrescendo signs, on the other hand, during the decrescendo. Since, in this One look at measure 91 suffices to
tend to be less forceful and precise, and instance, neither an accent nor a prove that the signs in measure 31 must
the edges of their hooks frequently are decrescendo makes much sense in the be meant equally as decrescendo signs,
slightly rounded. From the autograph, right hand, one must assume that Continued on page 63
one would conclude that Schubert was
merely careless in his notation, and that
he intended the same sign for measures
76-77 and 154-55 as appear in meas-
ures 80-81 and 158-59. However, in
the Bärenreiter edition one finds accent
marks assigned to these notes instead of
decrescendo signs. (See Example 8.)
Yet another example of decrescendo
signs incorrectly transcribed as accent
marks occurs in measures 92 and 93 of
the same C Minor Impromptu. In the
autograph, the decrescendo sign covers
three notes, but in the Bärenreiter edi-
tion the mark appears as an accent. (See
Examples 9 and 10.) A similar situation
occurs in measures 165-66 and 185-86.
On the other hand, in measure 110, the
sign that appears under the fourth beat
is a genuine accent mark, played as part
of the ongoing crescendo. (See Example
11.) Example 13: Chopin Barcarolle, Op. 30, m. 16 and mm. 30-31; Paderewski edition
Kathryn Shanks, pianist and musicol-
ogist at New York University, suggested

AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 17

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Accent? Decrescendo? composer's meaning.
Continued from page 1 7 Finally, as mentioned in some recent
studies on the music of Schubert and
for the music in both passages isChopin, almostthe composers' genuine accent
identical. (See Example 16.) Further marks are subject to many different
examples may be found in the interpretations and do not necessarily
Mazurkas. The principle is always call every time for dynamic emphasis. If
the same. an agogic stress is required, as happens
How can performers know whether, especially in Chopin mazurkas and
in a printed edition, the hook they see waltzes, the signs actually are very simi-
is an accent mark or a decrescendo lar to the decrescendo signs referred
to earlier.
sign? No universal, accurate prescription
- only general and not altogether Performers, as well as all editors of
A COMPLETE HOME
trustworthy guidelines - may be given. Urtext editions, have much to learn
Performers must be suspicious if before all the questions raised by these STUDY COURSE
what looks like an accent mark occurs ambiguous hooks can be answered.
after a crescendo. Normally, such a note AMT IN PIANO TUNING
would not be emphasized, or the
AND REPAIR
emphasis would be enough to warrant NOTES
a sforzato. Schubert's accents are inher- 1. J. L. Dussek, Sonata in A Minor, Op. 18,
ent to the inflections of his melodies No. 2, contained in The London Pianoforte
and usually occur precisely where there School, vol. 6 (New York: Garland, 1985). Siřit* far frpp brncljttre
has been no previous swelling of 2. Ludwig van Beethoven, Bagatelles, Op.
126, facsimile ed. by S. Brandenburg (Bonn:"PIANO TUNING PAYS "
sound, as in the Impromptu in B-flat
Beethovenhaus, 1984).
Major, Op. 142, No. 3, Variation 2, 3. Detlef Kraus, Johannes Brahms als
measure 2. (See Example 17.) One must Klavierkomponist (Wilhelmshaven: Edition
also remember that it is normal for a Heinrichshofen, 1986), 103f.
decrescendo sign to be shorter than the 4. Neue Schubert Ausgabe , vol. 5 (Kassel: AMERICAN SCHOOL
Bärenreiter-Verlag).
crescendo sign that precedes it. In 5. Fryderyk Chopin, Complete Works, vol. •f PIANO TUNING
some cases of doubt there are parallel 11 (Warsaw: Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, 17050 Telfer Dr., Dept 4
passages available for elucidation of the1962). Morgan Hill, CA 95037.

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