The secret life of hairpins III ~ a matter of accent

The secret life of hairpins III ~ a matter of accent Strictness of meter as it’s understood today was not necessarily expected in the early nineteenth century and earlier, and metric flexibility was far more varied and nuanced. Bar lines were not understood as binding points of reference the way they are today. Not conforming to bar lines or beats all the time wasn’t regarded as an error or a distortion, but as an expressive resource. Perceiving and projecting subtle modifications of meter added elegance and variety to the music, creating gestures that enriched an interpretation. And if this was a reality in the way the score was read and interpreted, we must consider the possibility that some notational signs were intended to guide these subtle inflections of meter.