I'm coming across this in Brahms Rhapsody no.2, opus 79. E.g. at bar 20. Can someone enlighten me please? There's lots of m.g. where obviously the LH plays in the treble but I can't see why it'd refer to a hand position here. If it was mezza voce wouldn't it be written with capitals? Puzzled!

Which edition are you using? Just checked the Peters Edition and it's not in there as mg - it's written in full as mezza voce.


Edit - I'm thinking m.g. was a typo.

I'd imagine it's main gauche to indicate it's the left hand not the right in the treble. Although not sure why it would be in French so perhaps I'm wrong.

Edit: Oh, "mg" is a typo? In that case ignore the above!

Thanks both, it's the Dover edition. All the m.g. signs make sense. I suppose it must be mezza voce then but it's still a bit puzzling as it's bang next to a p sign. There's another one in bar 53.

(My ipad keeps changing it to mezzo vice. Perhaps it's right for once!)

Henle Urtext gives it in full as mezza voce. But my very old AB copy from nineteen seventy-something replaces it with lontano.

Thanks again!