Agitato?

[chauncey]

Hello all! So I am working on this Samuel Barber piano piece (General musicians: "What? He composes for piano??") called Prelude to a Tragic Drama. This along with many other early piano works have been found recently and created into a music book.. I think in 2010 to commemorate his 100th birthday. Anyway, the piece is set at adagio tragico. I think its on the fast side of adagio though. My agitato question comes up with this part that is somewhat like a cadenza or quasi cadenza, if you must. I was wondering, how fast in terms of tempo should agitato be? I was thinking probably around 100bpm? I don't want to stray too far from the original tempo? Also, it goes back to adagio after 6 or 7 measures.

What do you guys think?

Thanks.

[asuhayda]

Good idea.

I think of agitato as "slightly rushed".. it gives the listener a feeling of uneasiness due to instability in the tempo. 

I think you are correct not to play the agitato section way too fast.

[j_menz]

Agitato is more a mood indicator than a tempo indicator, though it does generally mean going a bit faster. If it's only 6-7 measures, that should probably be not much faster, just enough to give it an agitated feel.

[chauncey]

Ahh ok, thanks guys!