Durchweg

As Printed on a Score

Joined to the direction it extends — “durchweg staccato”, durchweg pp — and printed once, at the start of the passage or piece it covers. The instruction then applies everywhere after it until the composer explicitly says otherwise.

How Composers Use It

A space-saver: one durchweg spares dozens of repeated dots or dynamics, and tells the player that the uniformity is intended, not an engraver’s shortcut. The risk is the exception — if a later phrase must differ, mark it plainly, and mark the return as well. Immer and sempre do similar work, but durchweg reads as ‘throughout, without exception’, so reserve it for real uniformity.

Example

Wolf, Eichendorff-Lieder, “Der Soldat I”, piano, m. 3: “durchweg staccato”, two bars into a song headed “Frisch” that opens p.

Related Terms