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Scan 231
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
19 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 203. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER XV
2ACCENTUATION OR EMPHASIS
4Accentuation lends life to musical execution, and if the musical phrase is to be intelligently expressed, it is necessary to follow its natural inflection, marked by accenting the first note of a tie. (We will consider the subject of accentuation in technique later on, since this is a variety of emphasis of a very special nature, and is employed only by a few artists.)
6In order to make clear my views with regard to accentuation and its proper application, I have selected as examples phrases from the violin works of Beethoven and Mendelssohn.
8The first note of the second and third measures at the beginning of the Mendelssohn Concerto should be accented without abruptness, for emphasis must not be confounded with brutal stress. There are strong accents and weak accents.
10This is a decidedly important accent, since it at once establishes the affectionate happiness of mood of the commencement of this movement. This joyous beginning of the Concerto might, in fact, be described as a love story, whose heroine is an innocent young girl.
12Turning to the following example fragment:
14we find when played as indicated above the phrase is insipid; whereas, when the correct accentuation is given:
16an admirable rhythmic symmetry results.
18Again, if the following phrase, for instance, is played détaché, without accent, thus:
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