Sempre dolcissimo

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside a soft dynamic, often after an a tempo or where the texture changes, to keep the extreme softness and sweetness going; it may extend into longer directions (sempre dolcissimo e morendo). It lasts until a contrasting direction replaces it.

How Composers Use It

Sempre dolcissimo sustains the most tender, hushed character through a passage that might otherwise invite growth — a restated melody, a thickening accompaniment. Debussy uses the Italian phrase in his French songs to hold the mood at ppp. It is a direction of restraint as much as of tone: the performer must resist swelling. Avoid it on lines that need to project over an ensemble.

Example

Debussy, Ariettes oubliées, “C’est l’extase langoureuse”, voice and piano, m. 29: “sempre dolcissimo”, a bar after “a tempo” and the piano’s ppp.

Related Terms