non troppo

American  

[non trop-oh, troh-poh, nohn troh-poh, nawn trawp-paw] / nɒn ˈtrɒp oʊ, ˈtroʊ poʊ, noʊn ˈtroʊ poʊ, nɔn ˈtrɔp pɔ /

adverb

Music.

1. not too much.

   allegro non troppo.

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non troppo British  

/ ˈnɒn ˈtrɒpəʊ /

adverb

1. music (preceded by a musical direction, esp a tempo marking) not to be observed too strictly (esp in the phrases allegro ma non troppo, adagio ma non troppo )

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Etymology

Origin of non troppo

Borrowed into English from Italian around 1850–55

Example Sentences

Second phase, well, you might call it al legro ma non troppo and pretty nervy .

From Time Magazine Archive

In measure 29, allegro non troppo, we begin with a presentation of the motive in the usual first-movement mood.

From Music: An Art and a Language by Spalding, Walter Raymond

Non tanto allegro, or non troppo allegro—not too fast.

From Music Notation and Terminology by Gehrkens, Karl Wilson

But I was again aroused by the fine suspension and sequence which open the last movement of the Quintette,—the Allegro ma non troppo.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 92, June, 1865 by Various

It took me some time to locate it, but it hadn't run down; it was still going quite regularly—andante ma non troppo, two beats in the bar.

From Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 9, 1914 by Various