Grave

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff at the head of a movement or introduction, alone or extended (Grave e maestoso), sometimes with a metronome mark. It holds until the next tempo word — often an Allegro that the introduction runs into attacca. In French scores the lowercase grave or très grave is a character word, solemn and deep, and can also simply mean low in register.

How Composers Use It

Use Grave to open a work or movement with maximum weight and solemnity. It implies not just slow tempo but heavy, portentous character — each note should feel inevitable. Reserve it for introductions to serious works or funeral/tragic contexts.

Example

Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (“Pathétique”), first movement, piano, m. 1: “Grave” heads the ten-bar introduction, with fp on the opening chord; the Grave returns at m. 295, just before the coda.

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