agogic

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

agogic (from Gr. agoge, melody).
1. An adjective indicating a variety of accentuation demanded by the nature of a particular mus. phrase, rather than by the regular metric pulse of the mus. The first note of a phrase, for instance, may be felt to suggest a slight lingering which confers the effect of an accent: similarly, a leap to note significantly higher or lower than the preceding notes, or a strong discord resolving to a concord, may convey an effect of accentuation (by means of lingering, pressure, etc.) and there are other examples. The complementary term to ‘agogic accent’ (accent of movement) is ‘dynamic accent’ (accent of force), which implies the normal and regular rhythmic accentuation of a piece of music.

2. In a wider sense, ‘agogic’ covers everything connected with ‘expression’, e.g. rallentando, accelerando, rubato, pause, accentuation as described above, etc.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "agogic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "agogic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-agogic.html

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "agogic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-agogic.html

Learn more about citation styles