Presto agitato

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the first system as the movement heading and in force until the next tempo word. It usually governs a whole movement; any later tempo word interrupts it only briefly.

How Composers Use It

Very fast and agitated: speed combined with restlessness — sharp accents, surging dynamics, relentless motion. The marking suits minor-key finales and stormy movements where the tempo alone would sound merely brilliant. Make sure the accents and dynamic surges are notated, since agitato on its own cannot supply them; a Presto agitato played evenly at a single dynamic sounds like an étude, not a storm.

Example

Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 (“Moonlight”), third movement, m. 1: “Presto agitato”, at p, with sf chords in the second bar.

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