Gemessen

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading or inside one — In gemessenem Schritt, Keck und etwas gemessen, jedoch immer gemessen — and inflected to fit the phrase. As a qualifier it tempers whatever tempo word it joins and lasts as long as that word does.

Also spelled: gemessenem, gemessener

How Composers Use It

It names a manner of moving more than a speed: steady, weighed, never hurried — the tread of a procession. Mahler opens his Fifth Symphony In gemessenem Schritt; Wolf writes immer gemessen to keep a quickening passage from running away. Pair it with a tempo word or metronome mark when the exact pace matters, and with belebter or fließender when you want more motion without losing dignity.

Example

Wolf, Eichendorff-Lieder, “Der Freund”, voice, m. 27: “etwas belebter, jedoch immer gemessen” — a little livelier, but still measured — comes two bars after “sehr breit”, in a song headed “Mässig”.

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