Allegro
A bright, lively tempo term — character before numbers
Related
Allegro marks a bright, lively tempo, often around 120–156 beats per minute. The word comes from Italian allegro, "cheerful, bright", so it names a character first and a speed second: Allegro is not only fast, it must have spirit.
The usual mistake is to treat it as a fixed BPM. One Allegro can differ enormously between Mozart and Mahler, and two conductors can give the same Allegro completely different temperaments. Ask what the music is saying before deciding how fast it should go.
Read deeper → Tempo
Sources
- 速度术语的性格含义与通行 BPM 区间，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Tempo and tempo marks" 与通行乐理教材；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.