A piacere

At pleasure

“A piacere” comes from Italian “piacere”, pleasure or liking. As a direction in the score it means: at pleasure, free in delivery. What is meant is usually the tempo: the players need not follow the rhythm strictly. In musical directions “a piacere” is synonymous with “ad libitum”.

The passage in “The Storm”

The sheet from the archive shows how the direction appears in practice:

Voice and piano

• The Storm voice and piano, with chords for guitar · 2 pages

  On page 1, “a piacere.” is above the vocal line in the first bar of an inserted passage in 4/4 time. Before it is a fermata in bar 11, and the time signature changes from 6/8 to 4/4; below it in the piano is “colla voce.”. In bar 14, again in 6/8, “a tempo” follows. The key signature has three flats.

Three things stand out. First, “a piacere” is not written over the whole piece, but only at an inserted passage of two bars. Second, a fermata comes before it, and the change of time signature marks the insertion. Third, the end is stated explicitly: in bar 14 there is “a tempo”.

Distinctions

• A tempo is the counterpart: it leads back to the fixed tempo.
• Colla voce (“with the voice”) says that the accompaniment follows the singer. In the sheet above it is written in the piano while the vocal line has “a piacere”: the singer decides the tempo, the piano follows.
• Ad libitum means “at pleasure” in a wider sense: tempo and manner of performance are left to the players, and improvisation is also meant. “A piacere” is read mainly as free tempo.
• Fermata lengthens a single note or rest; “a piacere” extends the freedom over a passage.

Common mistakes

• Reinterpreting the notes: The delivery is free, above all the tempo. The notes stay as printed.
• Ignoring the end: The freedom applies only until “a tempo” or the next tempo marking.
• Overlooking the accompaniment: Where “colla voce” is written, the accompaniment follows the singer, not the metronome.