Etwas belebter

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the quickening begins; in bilingual editions the Italian “un poco più animato” stands beside it. It holds until the next tempo word, often a return a few bars later (Erstes Tempo).

How Composers Use It

A modest, relative push: livelier than the music before, but only a little. It lets a middle phrase lift without starting a new section, and etwas asks for a change that is felt rather than heard as a gear change. Wolf sometimes adds a brake in the same breath (“etwas belebter, jedoch immer gemessen”); plan the return so the lift has a shape.

Example

Cornelius, Weihnachtslieder, Op. 8, “Die Hirten”, voice, m. 31: “etwas belebter” with “un poco più animato”; two bars later “Erstes Tempo” restores the song’s opening “Ruhig”.

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