Ben espressivo

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside the dynamic under a solo or leading line, also as ben espress.; in orchestral parts often next to Solo. It lasts for the phrase or solo and lapses at the next character direction.

Abbreviations: ben espress.

How Composers Use It

Ben here means “well, thoroughly”: ben espressivo asks the player to make the expression unmistakable, close to molto espressivo but with a nuance of clarity — expressive and clearly projected. It suits an exposed solo emerging from the texture; Amy Beach gives it to a solo clarinet in her Gaelic Symphony while the strings stay pp. Like other ben- phrases (ben marcato, ben legato), it asks for the quality to be done properly, not exaggerated.

Example

Beach, Symphony in E minor (“Gaelic”), Op. 32, second movement, first clarinet, m. 101: “Solo” and “ben espressivo” at mf, while the second violins and violas play pp.

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