tempo[Ital.,=time], in music, the speed of a composition. The composer's intentions as to tempo are conventionally indicated by a set of Italian terms, of which the principal ones arepresto(very fast),vivace(li
borrowed from Italian, "time, rate of speed (in music)," going back to Latin tempor-, tempus "time, period of time, season," of uncertain origin Note: If it originally meant "extent, measure" (hence, "extent of time"), Latin
The preferred tempo for a given piece or section of music, as is often specified by the composer, is communicated to the reader or performer of sheet music in the form of specialized words (often Italian) that are known as tempo markings. On a piece of sheet music, the tempo marking is...
The wordtempocame into English by way of Italian, tracing all the way back to the Latin wordtempus, meaning time. It was originally used to describe the timing of music, or the speed at which a piece of music is played. For example, a soothing song would be described as a slow tempo...
Tempo can also be indicated through a set of words often used to describe the tempo at the beginning of a piece. These words are generally Italian or Latin, and come from the 17th century Italian composers who were so important to the rise of classical music. These words represent the comp...
1680–90; <Italian <Latintempustime Words Nearbytempo Temple City Temple of Artemis temple orange templet Temple Terrace tempo tempolabile temporal temporal bone temporal hour temporality Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024 ...
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In Italian, French, and German tempo markings, there are some words that mean ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ or ‘less’ added to the regular tempo marking. For example, in English, instead of just using the word fast to describe all quick tempos, we could have ‘very fast.’ ...
1.(Music, other) the speed at which a piece or passage of music is meant to be played, usually indicated by a musical direction (tempo marking) or metronome marking 2.rate or pace [C18: from Italian, from Latintempustime] Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition...