Humoristisch

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading or over a passage; the same root appears in titles (Humoreske). As a character word it holds until another one replaces it.

How Composers Use It

Humoristisch asks for wit: playful timing, crisp contrasts, a knowing exaggeration of gestures. In German Romantic usage humour includes whimsy and irony, not only jokes — Schumann’s Humoreske, Op. 20, ranges from tender to wild. Mark the specific tricks (sudden pauses, subito dynamics, accents in odd places) in the notation; the word gives the performer the attitude, not the location of the jokes.

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