Amoroso
To be performed lovingly, tenderly.
What it means
Amoroso means “loving, tender” and calls for a warm, affectionate performance. The marking concerns the expression, not the tempo, and therefore usually stands as an addition to a tempo word.
Like the related character words, it describes an attitude that shows itself in several means at once: soft tone production, restrained dynamics, slurred lines, a tempo that leaves the melody room.
From affettuoso, which means heartfelt feeling in general, amoroso differs through the tender colouring; from dolce and dolcissimo, which call for sweetness and gentleness, through the affectionate, appealing tone. The boundaries between these words are fluid, and composers use them inconsistently.
In the notation
The word stands in italics above the staff, usually after the tempo word, and holds until a new marking. It can become part of the movement’s name. It is frequently found over movements with a songful melody, plain accompaniment and middle register.
Musical use
The designation is used in slow and middle movements of lyrical character, in songs and in operatic numbers with a corresponding text. In the instrumental music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it heads middle movements and character pieces. In dance movements it scarcely occurs, because the firm pulse stands against the tender tone.
The designation is found in Baroque sonatas as well as in Romantic character pieces. It calls for no particular tempo range but for an expression: soft tone production, supple phrasing and a calm, unhurried motion. It often stands together with a tempo marking, for instance andante amoroso. In opera it describes love scenes and duets. Take care that the tenderness does not tip over into feebleness.
Performance practice
Shape across the line: keep the melody in long arcs and lead the transitions carefully. Draw the dynamics back and work with fine gradations rather than with large contrasts. Keep the accompaniment quiet and even, so that it carries without pushing forward. And avoid exaggeration — the effect arises from restraint, not from insistence.