Music Notation and Terminology Part 10

(_a_) Terms indicating a slower tempo.

1. Terms indicating a _gradual_ r.e.t.a.r.d.

_Ritenente_, (_rit._), _ritenuto_ (_rit._), _ritardando_ (_rit._), _rallentando_ (_rall._), _slentando_.

2. Terms indicating a tempo which is to become definitely slower _at once_.

_Piu lento_ (lit. more slowly), _meno mosso_ (lit. less movement).

3. Terms indicating a slower tempo combined with an increase in power.

_Largando_, _allargando._ These words are both derived from _largo_, meaning large, broad.

(For terms indicating both slower tempo and softer tone, see page 59, Sec. 127.)

The student should note the difference between groups 1 and 2 as given above: the terms in group 1 indicate that each measure, and even each pulse in the measure, is a little slower than the preceding one, while such terms as _piu lento_ and _meno mosso_ indicate a rate of speed becoming instantly slower and extending over an entire phrase or pa.s.sage. Some composers (_e.g._, Beethoven and Couperin) have evidently had this same distinction in mind between _rallentando_ and _ritardando_ on the one hand, and _ritenuto_ and _ritenente_ on the other, considering the former (_rall._ and _rit._) to indicate a gradually slackening speed, and the latter (_ritenuto_ and _ritenente_) to indicate a definitely slower rate. The majority of composers do not however differentiate between them in this way, and it will therefore hardly be worth while for the student to try to remember the distinction.

(_b_) Terms indicating a more rapid tempo.

1. Terms indicating a gradual acceleration.

_Accelerando_, _affrettando_ [Transcriber's Note: Corrected misspelling "affretando" in original] (this term implies some degree of excitement also), _stringendo_, _poco a poco animato_.

2. Terms indicating a tempo which is to become definitely faster at once.

_Piu allegro_, _piu tosto_, _piu mosso_, _stretto_, _un poco animato_.

112. After any modification in tempo (either faster or slower) has been suggested it is usual to indicate a return to the normal rate by some such expression as _a tempo_ (lit. in time), _a tempo primo_ (lit. in the first time), _tempo primo_, or _tempo_.

113. _Tempo rubato_ (or _a tempo rubato_) means literally _in robbed time_, _i.e._, duration taken from one measure or beat and given to another, but in modern practice the term is quite generally applied to any irregularity of rhythm or tempo not definitely indicated in the score.

The terms _ad libitum_, (_ad lib._), _a piacere_, and _a capriccio_, also indicate a modification of the tempo at the will of the performer.

_Ad libitum_ means at liberty; _a piacere_, at pleasure; and _a capriccio_, at the caprice (of the performer).

114. The term _tempo giusto_ is the opposite of _tempo rubato_ (and of the other terms defined in paragraph 113). It means literally _in exact time_. (_Tempo giusto_ is sometimes translated _quite rapidly_,[29] but this is very unusual.)

[Footnote 29: Bussler--Elements of Notation and Harmony, p. 76.]

115. _L'istesso tempo_ means--at the same rate of speed. _E.g._, when a measure signature changes from 2/4 to 6/8 with a change in beat-note from a quarter to a dotted-quarter, but with the same tempo carried through the entire movement.

116. _Tenuto_ (_ten._) indicates that a tone or chord is to be held to its full value. This word is sometimes used after a staccato pa.s.sage to show that the staccato effect is to be discontinued, but is often used merely as a warning not to slight a melody-tone--_i.e._, to give it its full value.

117. _Veloce_ means--swiftly, and is applied to brilliant pa.s.sages (_e.g._, cadenzas) which are to be played as rapidly as possible without much regard for measure rhythm. The words _rapidamente_, _brillante_ and _volante_ (flying) have the same meaning as _veloce_.

118. The following _expressions referring to tempo_ are also in common use but cannot easily be cla.s.sified with any of the groups already defined.

_Con moto_--with motion; _i.e._, not too slow.

_Pesante_--slowly, heavily.

_Doppio movimento_--twice as rapid as before.

_Tempo ordinario_--in ordinary tempo.

_Tempo commodo_--in convenient tempo.

_Sempre lento malinconico a.s.sai_--always slowly and in a very melancholy style.

_Animando_, _animato_, _con anima_--with animation.

_Agitato_--agitated.

119. _Tempo di marcia_ is given by Riemann (Dictionary of Music, p. 783) as equivalent to _andante_, M.M. 72-84. The same writer gives _tempo di menuetto_ as equivalent to _allegretto_, and _tempo di valso_ as equivalent to _allegro moderato_ (which he regards as indicating a more rapid tempo than _allegretto_).

CHAPTER XIII

DYNAMICS

120. The word _dynamics_ (cf. dynamic--the opposite of static) as used in the nomenclature of music has to do with the various degrees of power (_i.e._, the comparative loudness and softness) of tones.

As in the case of words referring to tempo, the expressions referring to _dynamics_ are always relative, never absolute; it is possible to indicate that one measure is to be louder than another, but it is not possible (nor desirable) to indicate exactly how loud either is to be.

Thus _dynamics_, perhaps even more than tempo, will be seen to depend on the taste of the performer or conductor.

The following _words referring to dynamics_ are in common use:

_Pianisissimo_ (_ppp_)--as softly as possible. (It will be noted that this is a sort of hyper-superlative of _piano_.)

_Pianissimo_ (_pp_)--very softly. (The superlative of _piano_.)

_Piano_ (_p_)--softly.

_Mezzo piano_ (_mp_)--medium softly.

_Mezzo forte_ (_mf_)--medium loudly.

_Forte_ (_f_)--loudly (lit. strong).

_Fortissimo_ (_ff_)--very loudly. (The superlative of _forte_.)

_Fortisissimo_ (_fff_)--as loudly as possible.

The lack of a one-word comparative degree in the case of both _piano_ and _forte_ seems to necessitate the hyper-superlative degree as given above, but the practice of using four, or even five _p_'s or _f_'s is not desirable.

121. The terms defined in Sec. 120 are often combined with others, as _e.g._,