Schwer

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a heading (“Langsam und schwer”; “Schwer, dumpf”) or as a one-word direction within a movement (Schwer.). It lasts until a new tempo or character word lightens the music.

How Composers Use It

Schwer asks for weight: heavy, deliberate attacks and a gravity that slows motion without necessarily changing the tempo. It is the German pesante and is common in funeral marches and dark songs. If you also want a slower tempo, say so (langsam, breit); otherwise performers keep the pulse and lean on each beat. Heavy and soft together — schwer at p — is a real colour too.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, first movement (Trauermarsch), m. 262: “Schwer.”, three bars after the contrabassoon’s “morendo” and the side drum’s “gedämpft.”

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