Gemäßigt

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading or, more often, as a qualifier in a phrase — Fliessender, aber immer gemässigt — where it reins in the word beside it for as long as that word lasts. Engravers often print it gemässigt.

Also spelled: Gemässigt

How Composers Use It

Use it as a brake on another instruction — flowing, but held; lively, but tempered — rather than as a tempo by itself. Mahler pairs it with fließender so a quickening never turns hurried. Where you simply want a moderate pace, mäßig is the usual heading; gemäßigt implies a speed that has been deliberately moderated.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, third movement (Scherzo), piccolo, m. 343: “Fliessender, aber immer gemässigt.” — more flowing, but always moderated.

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