Pizzicato sempre

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the string staff as sempre pizz., usually a bar or two after an initial pizz. as a reminder, or where a player might expect the bow to return. It lasts until arco.

Abbreviations: sempre pizz.

How Composers Use It

A reminder rather than a new instruction: pizz. already lasts until arco, so sempre pizz. is for long passages, page turns, or places where the music might seem to invite the bow. Use it when the pizzicato carries through a change of texture or dynamic that could otherwise be read as a return to arco.

Example

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, second movement (Adagio), first violins, m. 145: “sempre pizz.”, two bars after the “pizz.” it confirms, at pp.

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