Gewichtig

As Printed on a Score

Printed over a phrase or part, in Lieder sometimes in parentheses (“(gewichtig)”). It colours the passage it introduces until another character word, or a return to tempo, takes over.

How Composers Use It

Weighty, with importance: each note given substance, a slightly broadened, emphatic delivery. It is close to pesante but suggests dignity — or self-importance — more than heaviness. Because it can tempt a performer to broaden the tempo, say so if you want strict time, and mark the way back. It suits ceremonious phrases, sometimes with irony.

Example

Wolf, Mörike-Lieder, “Der Tambour”, m. 17: “(gewichtig)” at f, between “zurückhaltend” at m. 15 and “Tempo” at m. 18, in a song headed “Im Marschtempo”.

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