Mit Innigkeit

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff over a phrase or as part of a heading, sometimes joined to another quality (“mit Wärme und Innigkeit”). It holds until another character word.

How Composers Use It

Innigkeit is inwardness: heartfelt, intimate feeling, as if the music were spoken to oneself. The marking asks for a soft-to-moderate dynamic, a sustained, connected line and very little outward display. It belongs to Schumann’s world — innig was one of his favourite words — and to Brahms. Innig is the commoner form in headings; mit Innigkeit tends to appear in longer directions.

Related Terms