Adagio assai

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the first system as a heading and in force until the next tempo word. It can sit beside a genre title — Marcia funebre — and the two together define both pace and character.

How Composers Use It

Assai intensifies Adagio: very slow, with gravity. Beethoven’s choice of it for the funeral march of the Eroica shows its natural territory — solemn, weighty music where each beat carries significance. Assai shares a root with French assez (“enough”, “rather”), but in Italian musical usage it means “very”. If you want unambiguous slowness, a metronome mark removes any doubt.

Example

Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 (“Eroica”), second movement, m. 1: “Adagio assai”, printed with “Marcia funebre.” and “sotto voce”.

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