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Not fast.
Printed as a song or movement heading, above the first bar; it holds until the next tempo word. It defines the tempo by exclusion, so a reader takes the speed from the music’s character and figuration, usually something near Andante.
A favourite Schumann heading for songs that must move but never hurry — the opposite emphasis from Ziemlich langsam, which starts from slowness. It is less specific than nicht zu schnell, which caps a fast tempo; nicht schnell rules out speed altogether. Add a character word (Nicht schnell, immer sehr leise) to give the performer something positive to aim at.
Schumann, Dichterliebe, Op. 48, No. 2, “Aus meinen Tränen spriessen”: the song is headed simply “Nicht schnell”.
Nicht schnell is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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