Calmato

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff at the start of the passage it calms, often after a dim. or rit. that prepares it, sometimes as molto calmato. It sets a character, and often a slightly slower tempo, until the next tempo or expressive word.

How Composers Use It

Calmed: the participle implies rest reached after agitation, so it fits a return to quiet after a climax rather than a piece that is calm throughout (for that, calmo or tranquillo). Readers may take it as a tempo hint as well as a mood, so add a metronome mark or tempo word if the speed should not change.

Example

Debussy, Suite bergamasque, “Clair de lune”, m. 43: “calmato” at pp, two bars after an f and one bar after a dim.

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