Allmählich

As Printed on a Score

Printed at the start of a gradual change — Allmählich langsamer, allmählich bewegter, allmählich wieder ins Tempo — and sometimes followed by dashes carrying the change forward. It runs until a new tempo word, often Tempo I or a fresh heading, marks its goal. The older spelling allmählig appears in nineteenth-century editions, Mahler’s and Brahms’s songs included.

Also spelled: allmaehlich, allmählig

How Composers Use It

The German poco a poco, and the natural partner for a stated goal: allmählich bewegter, ins Tempo I übergehend tells the player both the direction and the destination. Mahler and Bruckner use it to spread a transition over many bars; give it enough length, and mark the arrival clearly so the change neither stalls nor overshoots.

Example

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, No. 5, “In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus”, voice, m. 94: “Allmählich langsamer”, printed with the Italian “Poco a poco più lento”.

Related Terms