Rubato

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as rubato or tempo rubato, often qualified — poco rubato, largamente e rubato, Bewegter, rubato. Its scope is vague on the page: it lasts until a tempo, in tempo or a new tempo word, or simply to the end of the phrase. Placed in a heading — Debussy’s “(Tempo rubato)” over Reflets dans l’eau — it governs the whole piece.

Also spelled: Tempo rubato

How Composers Use It

Writing rubato gives the performer leave to bend time for expression. Two kinds are described: the older one, known from Mozart’s letters and from the accounts of Chopin’s pupils, in which the melody pulls against an accompaniment that keeps time, and the later, freer kind in which the whole texture flexes. Mark it where a melody needs freedom, and say where strict time returns with a tempo.

Example

Chopin, Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2, piano, m. 26: “poco rubato” at pp, followed by “dolciss.” in the next bar.

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