Etwas langsamer

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff at the bar where the new tempo begins, often just after a ritard. that eases into it. It stays in force until the next tempo word — Tempo I, Wie vorher, Etwas bewegter — so a reader has to look back to the last tempo heading to know what it is slower than.

How Composers Use It

A relative instruction: it names a direction of change, not a speed, so its meaning depends on the tempo before it. That is why Schumann and Mahler reach for it to let a second theme or a reflective episode breathe without starting a new movement. Add a metronome mark if the amount matters, and plan the way back (Tempo I, Wieder bewegter) so the performer knows when the easing ends.

Example

Schumann, Frauenliebe und Leben, “Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben”, voice, m. 17: “Etwas langsamer.” arrives at a p two bars after a ritard., relaxing the song’s opening “Mit Leidenschaft.”

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