Zurückhaltend

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the tempo should hold back, often with a crescendo or before a cadence; it continues until a tempo, Tempo I or another tempo word. In bilingual editions it stands beside ritenuto or ritenente. Variants: immer zurückhaltend, noch mehr zurückhaltend.

Also spelled: zurueckhaltend, Zurückhalten

How Composers Use It

The German ritenuto, used by Mahler, Wolf and Schoenberg for an expressive holding back. Unlike a measured ritardando, it implies resistance — the music leaning against its own momentum. Pair it with a clear return (a tempo, Tempo) a few bars later, and grade it with etwas or sehr.

Example

Wolf, Eichendorff-Lieder, “Unfall”, piano, m. 16: “zurückhaltend”, at pp, with “a tempo” two bars later, in a song headed “Gemächlich”.

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