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

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

It consists of an Adagio leading to an Allegro moderato.

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

The first, probably an Allegro moderato, opens with a bold characteristic phrase, which is repeated in the second bar by the second cembalo; points of imitation, in fact, continue throughout the movement.

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

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)