Adagietto: Slightly faster than adagio (72–76 BPM)
Adagietto means slightly faster than adagio, a tempo of roughly 72-76 BPM with a lighter, more flowing character.
Adagietto Metronome: 72 to 76 BPM
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What Adagietto Means
Adagietto is a graceful tempo slightly faster than adagio, with a lighter, more flowing character. It is most famously associated with the fourth movement of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, whose achingly beautiful string and harp adagietto was used in Luchino Visconti's film Death in Venice.
Etymology
Italian, diminutive of 'adagio', literally 'a little at ease'
BPM Range
Minimum: 72 BPM
Maximum: 76 BPM
Typical: 74 BPM
Adagietto should feel gently flowing, not as heavy as a full adagio. Focus on lyrical phrasing and let the music breathe naturally without becoming static.
Adagietto in Real Music
Adagietto is uncommon enough that one piece dominates the term: the fourth movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 5, scored for strings and harp alone, sitting between the vast Scherzo and the contrapuntal finale. Its reputation grew far beyond the concert hall after Luchino Visconti used it throughout his 1971 film Death in Venice, and it is now regularly played at memorials. Performance history makes the marking's meaning vivid: recordings of this movement range from under eight minutes to well over twelve, which means conductors disagree about whether adagietto is a lighter adagio or a slow one. Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 contains a much shorter Adagietto, a muted string miniature that shows the marking's other face, intimate rather than monumental. The diminutive suffix is the whole argument. Just as allegretto pulls back from allegro, adagietto pulls back from the full weight of adagio, asking for motion inside the slowness rather than stillness. In practice the difference between 72-76 BPM and a broad adagio at 66 BPM is small on paper but obvious in sound, because the faster reading lets long phrases arrive as single gestures instead of chains of separate notes. Players usually think in whole phrases and keep the harmonic rhythm moving forward.
Example Pieces
- Symphony No. 5, 4th movement (Adagietto), Gustav Mahler
- L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1, Adagietto, Georges Bizet
Common Genres
Related Tempo Markings
Frequently Asked Questions
Is adagietto faster or slower than adagio?
Adagietto is slightly faster than adagio. The '-etto' diminutive suffix makes it 'a little adagio', not quite as slow, with a lighter, more graceful character.
What is the most famous adagietto?
The Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony No. 5 is by far the most famous. It gained wider recognition through its use in the 1971 film Death in Venice.
How fast is adagietto in BPM?
Adagietto is typically 72-76 BPM, around 74 BPM in practice. That overlaps the top of adagio's 66-76 BPM range, which is why the two markings can sound close in performance.
What is the most famous piece marked adagietto?
The Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony No. 5, written for strings and harp, is by far the best known. Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 also contains an Adagietto, much shorter and more intimate in scale.
Is adagietto slower than andante?
Yes. Adagietto runs 72-76 BPM while andante spans 76-108 BPM, so andante is faster and carries a walking pulse. Adagietto still belongs among the slow markings, just lighter than a full adagio.
Related References
Practise Adagietto at Any Tempo
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