Allegrissimo: Very fast (172–176 BPM)
Allegrissimo means very fast, a tempo of roughly 172-176 BPM that pushes allegro's lively character to its extreme.
Allegrissimo Metronome: 172 to 176 BPM
Press play to hear Allegrissimo at 174 BPM, or switch to the slow and fast ends of the range.
Loops until you press Stop. Beat 1 is accented so you can feel where the bar starts.
What Allegrissimo Means
Allegrissimo is the superlative form of allegro, pushing the 'cheerful and lively' character to its extreme. It demands a very fast tempo with brilliant, energetic execution. Like vivacissimo, it occupies the territory between standard allegro and presto, and is encountered less frequently than either.
Etymology
Italian, superlative of 'allegro', literally 'very cheerful/lively'
BPM Range
Minimum: 172 BPM
Maximum: 176 BPM
Typical: 174 BPM
Allegrissimo requires excellent technique and relaxed hands. Practice passages in rhythmic groupings and gradually increase tempo, ensuring no tension creeps into your playing.
Allegrissimo in Real Music
Allegrissimo is among the least used markings in the tempo vocabulary, and the reason is straightforward: Italian offers several ways to say very fast, and composers preferred molto allegro, allegro assai or simply presto. When the superlative does appear it signals brilliance rather than mere velocity, keeping allegro's bright, cheerful implication while demanding speed at the limit of clean playing. The repertoire that lives in this range is mostly virtuoso writing, such as the Transcendental Etudes of Liszt, where the technical demands are set by what a player can physically execute rather than by any number in the score, or the scherzo of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata, marked Assai vivace, which reaches the same territory by another route. Because the marking is so scarce, encountering it usually means the composer wanted to make a point about character, distinguishing an exuberant, glittering fast from the more neutral urgency of presto. Practically, its 172-176 BPM band is identical to vivacissimo and overlaps presto, so performers treat the word as an expressive instruction rather than a metronome setting. The technical demands are the same as any music at this speed: relaxed hands, economical motion, rhythmic groupings practised slowly first, and tempo raised in small increments so articulation never falls behind the fingers.
Example Pieces
- Piano Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier', 2nd movement (Scherzo: Assai vivace), Ludwig van Beethoven
- Études d'exécution transcendante, No. 8 'Wilde Jagd', Franz Liszt
Common Genres
Related Tempo Markings
Frequently Asked Questions
What BPM is allegrissimo?
Allegrissimo is typically around 172-176 BPM, faster than standard allegro but not quite at presto speed.
How does allegrissimo differ from presto?
Allegrissimo is the superlative of allegro and emphasizes a very lively, cheerful character at high speed, while presto simply means 'very fast' and focuses purely on speed.
How fast is allegrissimo on a metronome?
Set a metronome to 172-176 BPM for allegrissimo, around 174 BPM. That is faster than allegro's 120-156 BPM range and sits just below the middle of presto, which runs 168-200 BPM.
Is allegrissimo faster than vivace?
Slightly. Allegrissimo runs 172-176 BPM while vivace spans 156-176 BPM, so allegrissimo occupies only vivace's top edge. In practice the two markings can produce nearly identical speeds.
Why do composers rarely write allegrissimo?
Italian offers several alternatives that composers preferred, including molto allegro, allegro assai and presto. Allegrissimo survives mainly in tempo tables rather than in scores, so most musicians meet the word before they ever play it.
Related References
Practise Allegrissimo at Any Tempo
The full free metronome opens at 174 BPM with tap tempo, ten time signatures, subdivisions, and a visual beat indicator.
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