Largo assai

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the first system as a heading and in force until the next tempo word. It is often extended with a manner word — Largo assai e con espressione — that colours the whole piece.

How Composers Use It

Very broad and slow: the deepest end of the slow tempos, with a sense of spaciousness rather than mere slowness. It suits laments, meditations and songs of grief where each phrase needs room, such as Haydn’s setting of Viola’s lines from Twelfth Night. At this pace the pulse is easily lost, so give the accompaniment a clear, steady subdivision and keep the melodic line moving between its long notes.

Example

Haydn, “She never told her love”, Hob. XXVIa:34, voice, m. 1: “Largo assai e con espressione”.

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