Abnehmend

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the staff, or above a vocal line, where the level should start to fall, sometimes alongside dim.; the decrease continues until a new dynamic is reached.

How Composers Use It

Abnehmend is a German diminuendo: a gradual decrease in loudness. Song composers such as Wolf and Cornelius use it in place of, or beside, dim. It names a process, so give it somewhere to go — a following p or pp — and enough notes to happen over. For a fade into silence, verklingend or ersterbend is more specific.

Example

Wolf, Mörike-Lieder, “Auf einer Wanderung”, piano, m. 39: “abnehmend” with “dim.” in the same bar, leading from f to p in the next.

Related Terms