Ancora

As Printed on a Score

Printed before più or meno inside a direction (“ancora più mosso”, “ancora più forte”) to push a change further, and holding as long as that direction. It can also mean “again”, as in “ancora una volta” over a passage to be repeated; after a return to Tempo I, “ancora più mosso” reads naturally as “faster again”.

How Composers Use It

Ancora tells the player that a change goes beyond a point already reached: after a più mosso, ancora più mosso asks for a further step. That makes it most useful in a sequence of tempo or dynamic increases, as in a song that grows more agitated in stages. Make sure the earlier step is printed; ancora più means little without a reference point.

Example

Brahms, “Liebestreu”, Op. 3 No. 1, voice, m. 20: “ancora più mosso”, after an earlier “Poco piu mosso” (m. 11) and a return to “Tempo I” (m. 15); “agitato” follows in m. 21.

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