The thread about 'comodo' started me thinking about tempo instructions, eg what are our favourites, and what are the more unusual ones.

I have always like 'perdendosi' (literally 'getting lost' ) which I first met in the piano part (second movement) of Beethovens third sonata for piano and violin. I have encountered it a number of times since.
Its usually in very slow movements, but I can imagine one getting lost is a prestissimo passage as well, though it wouldnt be marked 'perdendosi'

Another favourite is malinconico (melancholy) though the Poulenc Violin sonata is allegro malinconico, so presumably malinconico could be either slow or fast.

An unusual one is 'Ridiculosamente' in Prokofievs 'Visions Fugitifs'

What are other peoples favourites, and what unusual ones are there?

Lusingando is another good one - in Weber's Grand Duo Concertante!

What about 'andantino' ? Even the AB can't decide exactly upon its meaning - the pink book says it is' a little faster or a little slower than andante...' Which ? !

According to the Viriginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary, it means a little faster than andante, but slower than moderato.

Car Expert

Not really a tempo marking but a performance direction. "Beklemmt" from Beethoven's string quartet op 130. It is for the first violin only and translates best as strained. Magical moment.

My favourite has to be smorzando, which is italian for dying and generally in music means dying away.

Allegro: because they asked me what it meant in my grade 5 theory

Some weird ones: sans presser, a l'aise, tres largement accentue.

The most fun to play: Ad libitum!!!

My favourite, because it's so ambiguous, is Andantino (Allegretto molto moderato) at the beginning of Faure's Sicilienne.

I also like Presque lent et avec indolence, which is the marking for Ravel's Piece en forme de Habanera, and bien rhythme (e acute) at the beginning of Ferroud's Jade, which I always want to translate nowadays as 'well rhythmic'.

I like 'con fuoco'.

For sheer style, you can't beat Fats Waller's "The Joint is Jumpin'"

Tempo di-sturb de neigbors

Cheers

Katyjay

How about this for being anal; Satie's " Without raising the eyebrows" in Gymnopedies
Beverley.

I still think the best one comes at the beginning of "Big Spender" - "Stripper tempo". I'm serious it made me laugh when I saw it!

Stripper tempo gets my vote as well - I'm sure I've seen it somewhere else! Probably a show tunes arrangement or something.

I heard somewhere about a piece marked 'to be played as fast as possible', apparently a few bars later came the instruction 'faster'!!!!

I am pleased this thread I started has proved popular.
The Old Ladys post on Satie prompted me to look up a few more of his gems:-

Tres Luisant (anyone know what this means)
Du bout de la pensee
Postulez en vous-meme
Sur la langue (On the tongue!)
Sans Orgueil (does this mean without orgasm ?)
Ouvrez la tete (Open the head)
Tres perdu (Very lost)
Portez cela plus loin (carry that further)
Eviter toute exaltation sacrilege
Ne pas se tormenter (dont torment yourself)
Avec fascination
Ne pas trop manger (dont overeat)
Pareillement
Un peu cuit

Well there loads a loads and loads. Finally my two favourites:-

Comme un rossignol qui aurait mal aux dents (do birds have teeth?)

Retirez votre main et mettez-la dans votre poche (withdraw your hand and put it in your pocket)

pride or arrogance apparently, so how you play without arrogance or pride I don't really know.

PS Luisant is bright, shiney, brilliant

Things like that make me want to say, "OK, make up your MIND!"


*applause* excellent


Bwahahahaha!




How about the performance direction for the second and last movement of Mozart's flute quartet in A?

"Rondeau [never seen it spelled like that before ], Allegretto grazioso, ma non troppo presto, pero non troopo adagio. Cosi-cosi-con molto garbo ed espressione"

Personally I think he was extracting the urine with that one

I like that one too. I can't remember where I looked it up, but the translation I got was "extinguishing". I thought the Italian for "dying" was morendo.

I've just had to look up strepitoso for the severalth time (hope it finally sticks!) and it means "noisily" - I realise that's not exactly a tempo instruction. This time it was at the beginning of the final section of William Lloyd Webber's Suite for Trumpet and Piano.

There's another instruction that I particularly like, though again not actually a tempo one. I haven't got the copy in front of me, so I hope I'll get the spelling right. It's from Poulenc, I think the slow movement of the flute sonata: doucement baignée de pédales (sweetly bathed in pedal!).

Off the top of my head, I believe Percy Grainger advises the pianist to 'thump' in "Handel in the Strand"?

Berg's Lyric Suite has a presto delirando, which does indeed sound a bit excited.

In various late works of Scriabin one sees many strange indications, e.g.: affannato = uneasy, distressed; belliqueux = belligerent.

well - he regularly uses the instruction "louden", and demands that you play "clatteringly" ! (and in one place very clatteringly).