Long tempo indications

[KlausWH]

Bildschirmfoto 2026-09-12 um 13.20.28.png (114.26 KiB) Viewed 140 times

How would you format a tempo indication like this for maximum legibility? Would you put it on two lines?

[Magnus Johansson]

Hello! I would stick to one language to start with.

[MichelRE]

Also, "stiffly and mechanically" isn't really a "tempo indication". It's an expressive marking. It's more about HOW the music should be played than what tempo it should be played at.

I'd also suggest that "animando poco a poco" isn't really a "starting tempo". I'd choose an actual starting tempo, write it at the first bar, then add the animando as a separate gradual tempo change.

[David Ward]

I might connect the two parts of the direction with a conjunction such as ‘and’ or ‘then’ rather than just with a comma, and (if space allows) I'd probably put it all on one line.

FWIW I don't object to mixing languages in musical directions. I have occasionally done so myself (and I've been in very good company). Apart from all else, ‘musical Italian’ is not the same as idiomatic Italian.

As for the wording, if I am being invited to comment upon it, some verbal indication of the actual tempo (in the language of your choice), qualified by ‘stiffly’ or ‘mechanically’, might perhaps be better.

[David Ward]

To add to what I said above about mixing languages, my personal view (no more) is that because it is perfectly normal to use phrases of musical Italian when speaking my own language of English, it is not intrinsically wrong to mix English with musical Italian for the directions within a score. I might talk of the allegro or the largo when discussing a piece of music in English, rather than of the ‘lively’ or the ‘broad’ &c &c &c.

[Magnus Johansson]

To add to what I said above about mixing languages, my personal view (no more) is that because it is perfectly normal to use phrases of musical Italian when speaking my own language of English, it is not intrinsically wrong to mix English with musical Italian for the directions within a score. I might talk of the allegro or the largo when discussing a piece of music in English, rather than of the ‘lively’ or the ‘broad’ &c &c &c.

I think written instructions in a piece should use one and the same language, but I think it is totally OK to talk in Swedish or in English about e.g. the "Allegro" movement of a symphony.

[Magnus Johansson]

Also, "stiffly and mechanically" isn't really a "tempo indication". It's an expressive marking. It's more about HOW the music should be played than what tempo it should be played at.

I'd also suggest that "animando poco a poco" isn't really a "starting tempo". I'd choose an actual starting tempo, write it at the first bar, then add the animando as a separate gradual tempo change.

I agree.

[OCTO]

Agree with above.
You can use whatever you want, but if you use one sentence it is imperative not to use two languages.

Stiffly and mechanically (q=60).
–is only what you need.

[MichelRE]

I've struggled a bit with the use of only French in my scores.
I find that far too often the French equivalent of a single word in Italian is often a long clumsy sentence, and then it doesn't even quite have the same connotations anyway.