Allegramente

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading at the start of a movement or section, alone or after a tempo word; it governs the section until the next tempo or character word.

How Composers Use It

Allegramente goes back to allegro’s first meaning — cheerful, merry — so it names a mood with an implied lively pace rather than a precise speed. Use it when you want allegro’s brightness without the suggestion of sheer speed, and add a metronome mark if the pace matters. Because it is rarer than Allegro, it reads as a deliberate choice of character.

Example

Ravel, Piano Concerto in G major, first movement: headed “Allegramente”, the first of the concerto’s three movements (Allegramente, Adagio assai, Presto).

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