Andante - what is it in music?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Tempo in music is an amazing concept, like this art form itself. Let's talk in this article about one of its many components - the "andante" tempo. We will analyze both it itself and the works in which it can be traced, varieties, the history of the emergence of tempo in music.

What is andante in music: definition

Andante (from Italian andante) is the speed with which this or that piece of music is played, in this case equal to 76-108 metronome beats. Andante is a designation that is located between adagio and moderato in the gradation of musical tempo.

This is also the name of a certain melody, part of a symphony, sonata or other musical creation that does not have its own name, which is played at this tempo. Sometimes it's a musical theme with variations.

Origin

The word andante (Italian andante - "current", "going") comes from Italian. the verb andare, which means "to go". The reason for this is that before the invention of the metronome (a device that marks short intervals of time with beats), the andante wasequal to the pace of normal walking, equaling the rhythm of 69-84 beats. This made it possible to attribute it to a moderately slow pace. Andante speed was close to adagio.

Then, over the centuries, the use of this tempo changed until it became what we see it today.

An example of Andante music

Andante is one of the most common, along with allegro, tempos in music. These are medium in speed, lyrical in nature works - components of sonatas, quartets, entire symphonic cycles. For example:

• "Singing Andante" ("Andante Cantabile") is the slow part of the quartet composed by the great Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The work was set to the Russian folk song "Vanya was sitting".
• Mozart's Symphony No. 1.
• "Andante Favori" ("Favorite Andante") by Beethoven. The history of this work is interesting: it was written as a slow part of the world-famous Appassionata sonata. As soon as the work on the whole composition was completed, the composer noticed that "Favorite Andante" turned out to be too significant and weighty, which is why its inclusion in the cycle would "weight" the already deep and long sonata. Therefore, Beethoven replaced "Andante favori" (sometimes called "Andante in F major" by the key in which the work is performed) with a smaller part. "Favorite Andante" became a separate piece.

A considerable number of authors name theirnon-program pieces are simply "Andante". This name is given according to the tempo of the piece created.

Now let's move on to the concept of "tempo".

What is tempo in music?

To understand more deeply what is Andante in music, a little acquaintance with tempo in music in general will help us. The word comes from lat. tempus - "time". It means the measure of time in music.

Since the classical-romantic historical era (XVIII-XIX centuries), the tempo has always been associated musically with the meter - a measure that determines the magnitude of rhythmic structures. Hence, the tempo is often considered in music as the speed of movement, which is set by the number of metric beats per unit of time.

Let's make a reservation that not all music can be easily considered from the side of tempo and metrics as a union. The exceptions are such works in mensural and modal notation: Monteverdi's madrigals, Perotin's organums, Dies irae Gregorian sequence, Dufay's masses, etc.

We also note that although it is possible to keep the speed of the music with the help of the same metronome, the tempo is not always maintained at "live" concerts. Depending on his individual feeling of the work, the performer can speed up or slow down the speed of playing the instrument or his voice, or play deliberately unevenly. But if the composition, for example, is electronic-mechanical, then the number of beats in a certain time period is set uniquely.

Main paces

We have analyzed in detail the tempo in Andante music. Consider andmost common other:

• Quick:

  • vivo;
  • allegro;
  • animato;
  • presto.

• Medium:

  • moderato;
  • andante.

• Slow:

  • tape;
  • grave;
  • largo (largo);
  • adagio.

Not all pieces of music are performed at the same tempo. Some, for example, a w altz, a march, can be characterized by performance at different speeds.

Andante varieties

The word itself denotes a moderate performance, consonant with a leisurely, calm step, walking. In addition, they also highlight:

• Andante assai (56-66 metronome beats) - performed in the rhythm of a very calm walk.
• Andante maestoso (60-69 metronome beats) - compared to a solemn step.
• Andante mosso (63-76 metronome beats) - performance at this tempo we can easily compare with a lively human step.
• Andante non troppo (66-88 metronome beats) - music guides report that this tempo is not a fast step.
• Andante con moto (69-84 metronome beats) - playing or voice performance at this pace is compared to leisurely, relaxed walking.

In conclusion of the topic of andante as a musical term, we will invite you to get acquainted with the emergence of such a concept and quantity as tempo in music.

The history of the musicalpace

The first indications of composers on the tempo of performance of their work are found already in the 16th century in the works of vihuelalists (vihuela - a plucked stringed musical instrument that belongs to the viol family) by Luis de Narvaez and Luis de Milan.

And starting from the next century, composers prefer to consistently supply the music they create with some kind of cliched instructions that warn the performer about the pace of the game. At the beginning there were not so many of them: "drawing", "cheerful rhythm", "moderate game" and so on. It is even more correct to call it an indication of the nature (ethos) of a musical work, rather than a prescription for a certain speed of playing or performance.

Later, composers also did not forget to leave similar instructions in their compositions: metronomic notes in Beethoven's later works, a large number of clarifications in manuscripts regarding tempo made by Stravinsky. Thus, since the 18th century, it has already become a tradition for music creators to indicate in their works to the performer that the game corresponds to the designated tempo.

However, from that time to this day, the question of the correct tempo has been a favorite topic of debate among listeners, critics and the performers themselves. It is not uncommon for the composer to make no recommendations regarding tempo. Sometimes the fact comes up that there are tempo instructions, but they are deliberately not accurate, they refer to the ethos, the nature of the game, and not specifically the speed. A striking example is the music of Bach and other works of the Baroque era.

Thus, we have established that andante is the tempo of music, meaning a game or performance of medium speed, which can be compared with a person's walking calm step. The history of musical tempos itself has more than one century, but despite this, there are still disputes around some issues related to the speed of performance.