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Fast, lively, and bright. Typically 120–156 BPM. Literally means "cheerful."
Allegro is the workhorse tempo of Western music — most first movements, finales, and overtures are Allegro. Despite meaning "cheerful," it can serve any energetic mood: joyful, dramatic, agitated, triumphant. Pair it with character modifiers: Allegro con brio, Allegro appassionato, Allegro furioso.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, first movement (Allegro con brio) — the famous four-note motif drives forward with relentless energy.
Allegro is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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