Larghetto

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a movement or section heading, usually alone and sometimes qualified (Larghetto tranquillo, Andante quasi larghetto). It governs until the next tempo marking. As a heading word it is not abbreviated, and editions often add a metronome mark because it names a degree of slowness rather than a speed.

How Composers Use It

Larghetto is the diminutive of Largo — "a little broad." Use it when you want the nobility of Largo but with slightly more forward motion. It suits lyrical slow movements that should sing rather than simply sustain.

Example

Beethoven, Symphony No. 2 in D major, second movement, flute 1, m. 1: “Larghetto” heads the slow movement — the only Larghetto among the movements of his nine symphonies.

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