Haupttempo

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the movement’s main tempo begins or returns after an introduction or episode; it holds until the next tempo word. It is the mixed German–Italian form of Hauptzeitmaß.

How Composers Use It

Names the governing tempo directly, which is clearer than a tempo when several tempos have intervened, and avoids the ambiguity of Tempo I when a movement opens with a slow introduction. Hauptzeitmaß is the purist German form of the same idea. Add a metronome mark if the exact speed matters.

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