You'll have seen it on many an orchestral score, concert programme or CD inlay card. Many of classical music's greatest symphonies, for example, begin with an opening movement marked Allegro. Let's take a closer look at the meaning of allegro in music.
What does allegro actually mean?
Allegro is Italian for ‘lively’ or ‘cheerful’ and it’s a term used on musical scores to indicate that the piece should be played at a relatively fast pace and in a bright and merry manner. It’s a similar term to vivace, which also means ‘lively’.
How fast is allegro?
Different musical tempos are measured in beats per minute (BPM). And allegro is typically marked on a metronome as having between 120-168 BPM. This is slightly faster than allegretto (moderately fast), which itself is a little faster than moderato (moderate or medium).
A piece’s tempo shouldn’t be confused with its time signature. The latter indicates how many beats are included in a bar (or measure). Tempo, for its part, tells musicians how fast or slow those beats should be.
Examples of allegro and its meaning in music
From the first movement of Mozart’s Sonata in C Major to the fourth movement of Pescetti’s Sonata No 8 in C, there are plenty of examples of classical pieces played with an allegro tempo.
Visit our musical terms dictionary to find out about other musical definitions you may not know.
When was the term first used in classical music?
Like many other Italian musical terms, the Allegro marking has been in wide usage since the Baroque period. Italian terms began to gain popularity in the early 1600s, as composers felt the need to specify more clearly how their works should be performed and heard.
Most famous allegro movements
Some of classical music's most familiar moments are played at an allegro pace. Take the opening movements of two great Romantic symphonies, for example: Beethoven's famous, monumental Symphony No. 5 and Schubert's grand, irresistibly melodic Symphony No. 9.
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Beethoven gave the first movement of his mighty Fifth Symphony the tempo marking allegro con brio (roughly, 'lively, with brightness). Schubert's Ninth, after a slow (Andante) opening, settles into an cheerful Allegro ma non troppo (lively, but not too much).
Further back in the classical annals, the opening movements of all six of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos either have a specific allegro marking or, where no marking is supplied, are played at that tempo. An allegro tempo is, so often, the perfect pace and mood for an opening movement. After all, the opening should grab listeners' attention. And how better to do that than with something lively and cheerful?
In fact, since the 18th century, the first movements of many three- or four-movement works will typically be in allegro tempo - and in sonata form. This tempo marking is, therefore, one of the cornerstones of classical music. It's also a key factor in many of the most familiar and best loved musical movements in the repertoire. All hail allegro!
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