Voriges Zeitmaß

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff after a contrasting passage, returning to the tempo that came immediately before it; the reader must look back past the interruption to the heading then in force. It holds until the next tempo word.

Also spelled: Voriges Zeitmass, Voriges Tempo

How Composers Use It

Previous tempo — not necessarily the first. Use it after a short interruption (a slower bar, a cadenza) to resume the tempo just left; for the opening tempo, write Erstes Tempo or Tempo I. When several tempos intervene it becomes ambiguous, so name the tempo or give a metronome mark.

Example

Wolf, Eichendorff-Lieder, “Seemanns Abschied”, voice, m. 51: “Voriges Zeitmass”, two bars after a dim.

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