Gesteigert

As Printed on a Score

Printed over a phrase, often in parentheses with a qualifier (“(gesteigert, aber zart)”). It applies to that phrase; the next dynamic or character word ends it.

How Composers Use It

Heightened: more intensity — fuller tone, more urgency — but not necessarily more volume, which is why Wagner can write “gesteigert, aber zart”. It is the participle of steigern, and Steigerung names a longer build. Use it when emotion should rise while the dynamic stays restrained, and mark the dynamic separately.

Example

Wagner, Wesendonck-Lieder, “Der Engel”, voice, m. 19: “(gesteigert, aber zart)”, in a song headed “Sehr ruhig bewegt”.

Related Terms