Mezzo

As Printed on a Score

Seldom printed alone: it is the m of mp and mf below the staff, and it appears in word directions such as mezza voce and mezzo staccato, where it qualifies the word that follows. The feminine mezza goes with voce; some editions print mezzo voce, which means the same.

Also spelled: mezza

How Composers Use It

The two mezzo dynamics are the working middle of most music, and they are relative: mf in a string quartet is not mf in a full orchestra. Choose mp or mf for an unforced, ordinary level that can still move in either direction, and save the extremes. Mezza voce is a different instruction — a held-back, half-voiced tone — so do not use it as a synonym for mp.

Example

Warlock, Saudades, “Heracleitus”, voice, m. 8: “mezzo voce”, followed a bar later by “naturale”.

Related Terms