Poco meno mosso

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the slight easing begins, often at a new theme; it lasts until a tempo, Tempo I or another tempo word. Un poco meno mosso is the same instruction.

How Composers Use It

A small step down in tempo that gives a lyrical idea room to breathe without stopping the music’s flow. It is gentler than meno mosso and far gentler than più lento, so it suits places where the listener should feel the music settle rather than change gear. Let the dynamics and articulation support the change, and mark the return to tempo explicitly.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, first movement (Trauermarsch), piccolo, m. 377: “Poco meno mosso.”, with “morendo” in the oboes and trombones in the same bar.

Related Terms