Quasi andantino

As Printed on a Score

Usually a qualifier printed after, or in brackets beside, another tempo word — Allegretto grazioso (Quasi Andantino), Lento quasi Andantino — telling the reader how to take the main word. It lasts as long as that heading does.

How Composers Use It

Its value lies in correcting a reading: Brahms adds it to Allegretto grazioso so the movement is taken gently rather than briskly, and Warlock adds it to Lento to keep a slow song moving. Since andantino itself is ambiguous (a little slower or a little faster than andante, depending on period and place), the qualifier works best beside another word or with a metronome mark.

Example

Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, third movement, flute 1, m. 1: the heading “Allegretto grazioso (Quasi Andantino)” — the bracket tempering how quick the allegretto should be.

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