Prestissimo

As Printed on a Score

Usually printed at a coda or final section rather than at a movement’s start, arriving when a fast tempo is already running, often with ff or after a stretto; occasionally it heads a short movement. It holds to the end or to the next tempo word. As the extreme of the scale it rarely needs qualifying, though Liszt adds fuocoso assai in his Sonata.

How Composers Use It

Reserve Prestissimo for extreme moments — the final rush of a coda, a passage of virtuosic frenzy. It should feel like the music is straining at the limits of human performance. Use sparingly for maximum effect.

Example

Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata, Op. 53 — the coda of the final movement erupts into Prestissimo, a blaze of octaves that drives to the final cadence.

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