Allegro comodo

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the first system as the movement heading, often beside a form label such as Rondo, and valid until the next tempo word. Older prints sometimes spell it commodo, the archaic form, with the same meaning.

Also spelled: Allegro commodo

How Composers Use It

Comodo tempers Allegro toward ease: a quick tempo the player can take without strain, where the music flows rather than presses. It is useful for rondos, pastoral finales and accompaniments with busy figuration, where a hard-driven Allegro would make the texture sound frantic. Write Allegro comodo when you want the listener to feel unhurried ease; write Allegro moderato when you simply want less speed.

Example

Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14 No. 1, third movement: “Allegro comodo” heads the Rondo finale, which begins p.

Related Terms