Con dolcezza

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside the dynamic, usually p, in each part that carries the line — in an orchestral score it is repeated in every doubling part, flutes and violins alike. It lasts for the phrase or section and gives way to the next character direction.

Also spelled: dolcezza

How Composers Use It

Con dolcezza is the noun phrase of dolce — sweetness and softness of tone — and asks for the same gentle, rounded sound; its slightly greater weight suits a returning lyrical theme better than a passing phrase. Tchaikovsky uses it in the Pathétique and also combines it (con dolcezza e flebile) to shade sweetness toward lament. As with dolce, add a dynamic: the word describes colour, not level.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”), first movement, flutes and violins, m. 305: “con dolcezza” at p, in the bar marked “Andante come prima”.

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