Fretta

As Printed on a Score

Seldom printed alone: it appears chiefly in senza fretta (without hurry), as part of a tempo heading or a warning above the staff, and lasts as long as the phrase it belongs to.

How Composers Use It

Most composers use the word negatively — to stop a performer hurrying — because haste is better written into the music with a verb (accelerando, stringendo, affrettando). If you want urgency, those words give a clearer instruction than fretta. When you do write senza fretta, place it where the music invites hurry, not over a passage that has no such pull.

Example

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, “Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen”, voice, heading: “Tranquillo con moto, senza fretta”, printed beside the German “Ruhig bewegt, ohne zu eilen”.

Related Terms