Feroce

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside a loud dynamic, usually ff with sf accents around it, at a violent passage; in string parts it may come with a string indication — Tchaikovsky writes it with sul G. It colours the passage until the next character direction.

How Composers Use It

Feroce asks for ferocity: savage attack, hard accents, a wild and dangerous energy. It is more animal than furioso (frenzy) and less personal than con rabbia (rage). Tchaikovsky uses it in the Pathétique’s development, adding sul G so that the violins play on their thickest string. Use it at true climaxes; it gives permission for a rough sound, which players will not risk without being asked.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”), first movement, first violins, m. 170: “feroce” with “sul G” at ff, after a run of sf and sff accents, nine bars into the “Allegro vivo”.

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