Geheimnisvoll

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff, capitalised as a heading or lower-case over a phrase mid-song. It sets an atmosphere that lasts until the next character word, and also appears inside longer headings in the older spelling (“Durchaus mit geheimnissvoll schwermüthigem Ausdruck”).

Also spelled: geheimnissvoll

How Composers Use It

The German misterioso: hushed, veiled, expectant, usually quiet but defined by colour rather than level. Pair it with the means — low register, pp, muted strings, sparse texture — because the word cannot create mystery the notes do not suggest. Wolf uses it for a single line in a song headed Stürmisch bewegt, a sudden change of light rather than a new tempo.

Example

Wolf, Eichendorff-Lieder, “Seemanns Abschied”, voice, m. 13: “geheimnisvoll”, with pp two bars later, in a song headed “Stürmisch bewegt”.

Related Terms