Bewegt

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading — Bewegt, Mäßig bewegt, Zart bewegt, Innig, bewegt — or mid-movement in comparatives (bewegter, etwas bewegter) that quicken relative to the current tempo. It holds until the next tempo word. Since it describes motion as much as speed, the qualifier beside it carries most of the information.

How Composers Use It

Bewegt suggests emotional as well as physical movement — the music should feel alive and propulsive. Common in Mahler, who uses it with modifiers: Stürmisch bewegt (stormily animated) heads the second movement of his Fifth Symphony, and Etwas bewegter (somewhat more animated) recurs in the Kindertotenlieder.

Example

Wagner, Wesendonck-Lieder, No. 2 “Stehe still!”, voice, m. 1: “Bewegt” — one word for the song’s tempo, where “Träume” in the same set is headed “Sehr mässig bewegt, aber nie schleppend”.

Related Terms