Feierlich

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading, often compounded — Sehr feierlich, Feierlich und mit Andacht, Feierlich, nicht zu langsam — sometimes as the German partner of an Italian tempo (Adagio. Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam). It names character and implies a measured tempo, lasting until the next tempo word.

How Composers Use It

Feierlich implies something between solemn and celebratory — a sacred or ceremonial occasion. Bruckner uses it for his most elevated, quasi-religious passages.

Example

Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, second movement — "Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam" (very solemn and very slow), the great Adagio elegy.

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