port de voix

A rising appoggiatura from the note below, resolving upward onto the principal note. One of the most common agréments in French Baroque music, and precisely defined by Couperin in L'Art de toucher le clavecin. The port de voix falls on the beat and is accented, not anticipatory — its dissonance on the beat is the expressive point. Couperin distinguishes the port de voix simple (one note below) from the port de voix composé (with a trill added above the resolution).

The port de voix must land on the beat with harmonic weight. The lower auxiliary is not a quick passing note before the beat — it arrives on the beat and pulls upward. When combined with a trill (port de voix composé), the trill begins after the appoggiatura resolves. Practice: play the note below full value on the beat, then resolve; gradually compress the appoggiatura to the written proportion.