Precipitando

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff at the start of the rush; the participle precipitato (headlong) is common too, especially in Liszt. It holds until a new tempo word, a tempo, or a stopping point such as a fermata.

Also spelled: precipitato

How Composers Use It

The most violent of the accelerating words: falling headlong, with a sense of losing control. Reserve it for climaxes and dramatic breaks where some instability is the point. Because it can blur ensemble, it belongs mostly to solo music or to passages where an orchestra moves together in simple rhythm, and it needs a clear destination — a new tempo, a stretta or a held chord.

Example

Liszt, Transcendental Étude No. 10 in F minor, m. 159: “precipitato”, followed in the next bar by “Stretta.”

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