Dumpf

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff, usually as part of a heading (“Schwer, dumpf”), in bilingual editions beside an Italian heading. It sets the tone of the passage until a new character word.

How Composers Use It

Dull, hollow, muffled — a dark, damped sound without brilliance, like a covered drum. Ask for it with low registers, soft dynamics and muted or damped instruments; the word sets the colour but cannot replace the orchestration. Mahler joins it to schwer at the head of a song of mourning.

Example

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, “Wenn dein Mütterlein”, voice, m. 1: “Schwer, dumpf” heads the song, beside “Grave, malincolico”.

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