Zunehmend

As Printed on a Score

Printed below or above the staff where something should grow, alone or qualified (“Etwas zunehmend”, “allmählich zunehmend”). Alone it usually means growing louder; attached to a tempo word it means growing faster. The increase runs until a new dynamic or tempo word.

How Composers Use It

The German crescendo, with a sense of steady growth rather than a quick swell. Because German uses the word for loudness and for tempo alike, make the quantity explicit when it is not obvious — pair it with a target dynamic or with the tempo word it modifies. Allmählich zunehmend spreads the growth over a longer span.

Example

Berg, Sieben frühe Lieder, “Nacht”, voice, m. 31: “Etwas zunehmend” at p, with mf in the next bar.

Related Terms