Più di forza

As Printed on a Score

Printed as words above or below the staff where the extra force begins, often after sempre or a run of accents. Relative, like più forte: it raises the energy from the current level and lasts until a new dynamic or a softer word.

Also spelled: piu di forza

How Composers Use It

More force rather than simply more volume — heavier attack, more weight in each note. Use it to intensify a passage that is already loud, where another letter would add little; Liszt uses it that way in his virtuoso writing. As with any relative marking, its effect depends on what precedes it, so leave room to grow.

Example

Liszt, Grandes études de Paganini, No. 6 in A minor (theme and variations), m. 204: “più di forza”, after an sf and “sempre” in the bar before.

Related Terms