moderato

American  

[mod-uh-rah-toh] / ˌmɒd əˈrɑ toʊ /

adjective

Music.

1. moderate; in moderate time.

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moderato British  

/ ˌmɒdəˈrɑːtəʊ /

adverb

1. at a moderate tempo

2. (preceded by a tempo marking) a direction indicating that the tempo specified is to be used with restraint

   allegro moderato

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Etymology

Origin of moderato

1715–25; < Italian < Latin moderātus moderate

Explanation

When you see moderato in a piece of music, you know you should keep the pace right in the easy middle — neither fast nor slow, but at a medium tempo. Moderato is Italian, but looks very much like the English word moderate, which is exactly what it means: performed at a moderate tempo, or a nice, easy, controlled pace that doesn’t rush and doesn’t drag.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

moderato

Those qualities are matched, though in an earlier harmonic accent, in the Mendelssohn Octet, represented here by a lively, seat-of-the-pants reading of the opening Allegro moderato con fuoco movement.

From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2011

The wistful, dancing Andante moderato was similarly mixed: sometimes beguiling, sometimes careless.

From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2010

The beginning of the work is marked moderato, later, as the brass comes in, the movement is quickened and becomes andante maestro.

From Musical Memories by Rich, Edwin Gile

The opening moderato e cantabile is a tone-poem of touching pathos.

From The Pianoforte Sonata Its Origin and Development by Shedlock, J. S. (John South)

The moderato is their natural pace, and they recur to it as infallibly as would a pendulum after having been a moment hurried or slackened in its oscillations.

From The Orchestral Conductor Theory of His Art by Berlioz, Hector