moderato
Definition of the Italian term moderato in music:
- moderate tempo (50–120 beats per minute)
- movement, section, or piece marked moderato
- moderate
Language
Italian
Singular
moderato (m)moderata (f)
Plural
moderati (m)moderate (f)
Abbreviation
modto
Alt. abbreviations
mod.mod'to
Tempo analysis
An analysis of 100 recordings of classical works marked moderato indicates that moderato is typically performed at a tempo between 50 and 120 beats per minute (BPM). The average tempo is 83 BPM.
The diagram below shows the tempo of each recording. The dataset includes works from the 18th to 20th centuries, where available, with no more than three recordings of the same work and no more than six by the same composer.
18th century
19th century
20th century
Combinations
Italian musical terms that include moderato:
Musical examples
Music scores that include moderato:
- Claude Debussy: Suite Bergamasque (1890‑1905) Page 1
- Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor (1868) Page 1
- Franz Schubert: 4 Impromptus (1827) Page 1
- Franz Schubert: Moments musicaux (1823‑1828) Page 1
- Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 1 (1835) Page 1
- Gabriel Fauré: Pavane (1887) Page 1
- Georges Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2 (1886) Page 1
- Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (1677‑1688) Page 2
- John Stepan Zamecnik: Ballet Sentimental (1917) Page 1
- Michał Kleofas Ogiński: Polonaise 'Pożegnanie Ojczyzny' (1831) Page 1
Related terms
Italian musical terms related to moderato:
- allegretto – moderately fast (70–150 beats per minute)...
- andante – moderately slow (40–90 beats per minute)...
- camminando – walking, strolling, moving on, at a moderate pace
- discreto – discrete, moderate
- moderatamente – in moderate tempo...
- moderatissimo – very moderate tempo...
- posato – moderate, measured...
- temperatamente – moderately