Sforzando (Italian: 'forcing' — abbreviated sf or sfz) is a musical direction indicating a sudden, forceful accent on a single note or chord, creating an abrupt emphasis within a phrase that may not fall on the expected strong beat. It is distinct from a general dynamic accent (>) in its quality of surprise and local intensity. Beethoven was a master of sforzando as a structural and expressive device: in his Fifth Symphony, the famous opening figure's fourth note is marked sforzando, giving it a punched, relentless quality. In his late string quartets, sforzando marks appear at unexpected moments to disrupt the listener's rhythmic expectations. The sforzando is a microcosm of a broader Romantic tendency: the use of sudden dynamic contrast — the unexpected fortissimo in the middle of a pianissimo passage — as a metaphor for the unpredictability of experience.