Noch

As Printed on a Score

Joins a comparative or a continuing condition: Noch schneller, noch langsamer, immer noch mit Dämpfern. It is relative to whatever was last printed — noch schneller means faster than the tempo just reached, not faster than the opening — and lasts until the next tempo or technique direction.

How Composers Use It

It has two senses a player must tell apart: “even more” (noch rascher) and “still” (immer noch Sord., meaning the mutes stay on). The first works best as the last rung of an escalation — Schneller, then Noch schneller — and loses force if the music has not already moved. The second is a courtesy: reprint it after a page turn or a long rest so nobody removes a mute too early.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, Rondo-Finale, trumpets, m. 692: “immer noch mit Dämpfern. a 2.” — noch in its sense of “still”, keeping the mutes on as two players take the line together.

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