Poco adagio

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff either as a heading or as a brief slowing within a faster movement, where it usually follows a rit. and lasts only until the next tempo word, often Tempo I. As a heading it may be paired with touch and pedal directions that set the mood.

How Composers Use It

Somewhat slow: on the flowing side of Adagio, unhurried but not deeply slow. As a heading it offers a calm, flowing slowness; as a mid-movement marking it creates a short, expressive halt, as in the recitative-like opening of the Ninth Symphony’s finale, where Beethoven uses it between faster passages. Mark the return clearly, since poco adagio inside a fast movement is easily mistaken for a local ritardando.

Example

Liszt, Transcendental Étude No. 3 (“Paysage”), m. 1: “Poco Adagio.”, with “dolcissimo, una corda” and “sempre legato e placido”.

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