Allegro vivo

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading — at the start of a movement or at a sudden change of section within one — and governs until the next tempo word.

How Composers Use It

A fast, spirited allegro; vivo adds edge and brilliance. It can open a movement or, placed mid-movement, turn a change of tempo into a dramatic event, especially when it arrives without preparation after a quiet, slow passage. Decide whether the change should be sudden or prepared with an accelerando, and mark the dynamics so the shock (or the build) is unmistakable.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”), first movement, m. 161: “Allegro vivo”, the full orchestra entering ff and sff a bar after the bassoon part is marked “pppppp”.

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