Con agitazione

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside the dynamic or above a vocal line at the phrase it colours; in bilingual editions it may sit beside German mit Erschütterung. It colours the passage and lapses at the next character or tempo direction.

Also spelled: agitazione

How Composers Use It

Con agitazione asks for restless, troubled expression — uneven intensity, pressing phrasing, a sense of disturbance — without necessarily changing tempo. It is the noun phrase of agitato, which in headings often implies a quicker pace; con agitazione more often marks a passing emotional shock. Pair it with animato or stringendo if you want the time to move too, as Berlioz prepares it with un poco animato in “Absence”.

Example

Berlioz, Les nuits d’été, Op. 7, “Absence”, voice, m. 20: “con agitazione”, four bars after “un poco animato”, in a song headed Adagio.

Related Terms