Ma non troppo

As Printed on a Score

Rarely stands alone: it follows the word it tempers, inside a tempo heading or a running direction — Allegro ma non troppo, Adagio ma non troppo, poco a poco accel. ma non troppo — and lasts exactly as long as that word does.

How Composers Use It

Use it to keep a word’s character while capping its degree: Allegro ma non troppo keeps Allegro’s brightness at a pace that lets detail speak. It works best on words that already name a quantity — speed, loudness, acceleration — and turns vague on purely expressive ones. If you find yourself writing Moderato ma non troppo, choose a closer word instead.

Example

Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”), first movement, m. 1: “Allegro ma non troppo” heads the movement Beethoven titled Erwachen heiterer Gefühle bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande — cheerful, but unhurried.

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