Andante mosso

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff, either as a heading or at a point of change within a movement, and in force until the next tempo word. Mid-movement it often follows a broader passage — a quasi adagio or a ritenuto — and the reader takes it as motion renewed at an Andante pace.

How Composers Use It

Mosso adds forward motion to the Andante: a walking pace with a slight push, close to Andante con moto but with a little more urgency. It is especially useful when the surrounding tempo has broadened and you want motion restored without a full return to a faster tempo. As a heading, as in Verdi’s song “In solitaria stanza”, it warns the singer not to let a slow melody settle.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”), first movement, m. 335: “Andante mosso”, one bar after “quasi adagio”.

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