John Weeks Moore

“ The Germans divide accent into two principal species—grammatical and rhetorical; and the first of these we term here accent, and the last emphasis. The Italian words Rinforzando, Sforzato, or their contractions, Rinf, Rf., Sforz., Sf., are often used to mark the emphasis, and sometimes are placed over accented notes. As every species of measure may be subdivided by accents, according to the degree of quickness in which it is performed, so also the weak parts of every measure may be occasionally made emphatic at the pleasure of the composer. ”

“ The bars of music are not only useful for dividing the movement into equal measures, but also for showing the notes upon which the accent is to be laid. The measures of common time are divided into four parts; of these, the first and third are accented;the second and fourth unaccented. We shall term the accented strong parts, and the unaccented weak parts, of the measure, thus : -
The measures of triple time consist of three parts ”

“ In slow common time, the accents are more frequent; but they are found in the same proportion on the first, third, fifth, and seventh quavers, which are the strong parts, while the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth are the weak parts. ”