Andante giusto

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a tempo heading where the section begins (in a full score over the top staff, and often again above the strings); it stays in force until the next tempo word, and an a tempo after any rit. inside the section returns to it.

How Composers Use It

Giusto pulls andante toward strictness: a true, steady walking pace, without the push of con moto or the give of rubato. Use it where a section must neither drag nor lean — a processional, or a returning theme you want played plainly. Like every giusto marking, it assumes the player knows the usual speed of the main word; a metronome mark removes any doubt.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”), fourth movement, flute 1, m. 147: “Andante giusto”, two bars after “quasi adagio” — the movement’s last tempo heading.

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