Rallentando
Gradually slower, often with a sense of broadening
Related
Rallentando (rall.) means gradually getting slower, close to ritardando. Many scores treat the two as synonyms; if there is a nuance, rallentando more often carries a sense of broadening — not merely slowing, but letting the phrase widen.
The usual mistake is to turn it into dragging: broadening is not losing tension; long notes must still be held and the bass must still move. Judge a rallentando by whether the breadth arrives, not by how much speed is lost.
Read deeper → Tempo
Sources
- rallentando 与 ritardando 的细微差别，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Tempo and tempo marks"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.