Con calore

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside the dynamic or joined to other words in a running direction — Semplice, con calore; con calore, senza fretta. In bilingual editions it may stand beside a German equivalent. It lasts until a new character direction replaces it.

How Composers Use It

Con calore asks for warmth of tone: a rich, glowing sound and generous phrasing, without the urgency of appassionato or the heat of ardente. Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder pairs it with simplicity — plain but warm — which is a good model: calore keeps restraint words from turning cold. It suits p and mf as naturally as louder dynamics.

Example

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, “Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen”, voice, m. 5: “Semplice, con calore”, printed with the German “Schlicht, aber warm”.

Related Terms