Come prima

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where earlier material or an earlier tempo returns, often within a longer direction — a tempo (come prima), Andante come prima, Un poco meno mosso (come prima). It lasts until the next tempo word, and the reader must look back to the passage it refers to.

How Composers Use It

Come prima saves writing a tempo word twice and tells the performer that this is a return, not a new idea: restore the earlier tempo and manner exactly. It is useful in recapitulations and in passages that alternate ritenuto with a tempo. Make sure the reference is unambiguous; if several earlier tempos could be meant, Tempo I or the tempo word itself is safer.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”), first movement, m. 97: “come prima”, between a “ritenuto” two bars before and another two bars after.

Related Terms