Affrettando

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the hurrying begins, often with dashes, and ended by a ritenuto or a tempo; Italian opera scores sometimes shorten it to affrett. Affrettato, the past participle, describes the hurried state rather than the process.

Abbreviations: affrett.

Also spelled: affrettato

How Composers Use It

A pressing forward with urgency, usually brief and expressive — the agitation of a phrase rather than a structural tempo change. It differs from accelerando in tone: accelerando is neutral acceleration, affrettando implies haste, even anxiety. Use it for a phrase that should rush toward a climax or a charged word in a song, and mark the return (a tempo, ritenuto) so the hurry does not spill into the next phrase.

Example

Liszt, Liebestraum No. 3 in A-flat major, m. 57: “affrettando”, in a piece headed “Poco allegro, con affetto”.

Related Terms