Pesante
Encyclopedia
Pesante is a musical term, meaning "heavy and ponderous." It is often used in Latin
languages, such as Spanish
or Portuguese
, with the word pesado meaning heavy in both of these languages. The French equivalent is lourd.
In performance, "pesante" is often interpreted as a tempo term. It usually is applied as an immediate pulling back of a previous tempo. While this is not the textbook application of this term, it has gained widespread use among performing musicians. Pesante tempo is usually in between 60 and 100 as it is supposed to create a heavy dragging feeling.
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
languages, such as Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
or Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, with the word pesado meaning heavy in both of these languages. The French equivalent is lourd.
In performance, "pesante" is often interpreted as a tempo term. It usually is applied as an immediate pulling back of a previous tempo. While this is not the textbook application of this term, it has gained widespread use among performing musicians. Pesante tempo is usually in between 60 and 100 as it is supposed to create a heavy dragging feeling.