Lebhafter

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the music becomes livelier, often after a ritard. or at a new stanza; it holds until the next tempo word. It appears in compounds too — etwas lebhafter, noch lebhafter, allmählich lebhafter.

How Composers Use It

Livelier in tempo and spirit at once, the German più vivo or più animato. It suits a stanza that should brighten or a section that should spring forward without the weight of schneller. Since it is relative, combine it with allmählich for a gradual lift, and plan the return (Tempo I, Wie zu Anfang).

Example

Schumann, Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42, No. 6, “Süßer Freund, du blickest”, voice, m. 32: “Lebhafter.”, in a song headed “Langsam, mit innigem Ausdruck.”

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