Ganz

As Printed on a Score

Intensifies the word it precedes — ganz leise, ganz breit, ganz zart — and sometimes heads a song in parentheses as a character note. Its scope is that of the word it qualifies. In directions it means “completely”, not the English “quite” in the sense of “fairly”: ganz leise is as soft as possible.

How Composers Use It

Stronger than sehr when it touches an extreme: ganz leise sits at the bottom of the dynamic range, ganz breit is a full broadening. Reserve it for the end of a scale — the quietest, broadest or most tender point of a passage — and avoid using it where sehr would do, or it stops meaning anything.

Example

Berg, Seven Early Songs, No. 1, “Nacht”, voice, m. 24: “Ganz breit”, followed by “quasi a tempo” at m. 25 and “Wie zu Anfang” at m. 26.

Related Terms