Etwas zurückhaltend

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the tempo should ease back slightly, often with a crescendo or dynamic change nearby; it continues until a tempo or the next tempo word. Sometimes qualified further (aber nicht zu sehr).

How Composers Use It

A slight holding back — poco ritenuto — for a phrase that should broaden as it builds or relax as it closes. In the Fifth Symphony’s second movement Mahler couples it with molto cresc., so that weight increases as the tempo yields. Mark where the tempo resumes.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, second movement, flutes, m. 138: “Etwas zurückhaltend.”, with “molto cresc.” in the same bar and ff two bars later.

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