Calm

What it means

Gelassen (“composed”) is a German performance marking and calls for a calm, collected performance: without pushing, without excitement, with an even pulse and balanced dynamics. It corresponds to the Italian tranquillo or calmo.

The marking concerns the attitude, not the tempo. Even lively music can seem composed if it does not push; conversely a slow movement can be restless.

It differs from entspannt, which means the release of tension, through collectedness: what is meant is not slackening but calm out of security. It differs from andächtig in that no sacred tone resonates along.

In the notation

The word stands above the staff at the beginning of a movement or section, in German-language editions in place of an Italian marking. It applies until a new marking and can become part of the movement's name. It is often found over movements with an even accompaniment figure and a calmly led melody.

Musical use

The designation is used in slow and moderate movements, in middle sections after lively passages, and in closing sections that come to rest. In the song and piano literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it stands over pieces of a balanced character. As a counterpole to urgent markings it belongs to the means by which a work articulates its courses of tension.

The instruction calls for a calm, balanced performance without haste or pressure. It stands in German scores of the Romantic period and the twentieth century and corresponds to Italian tranquillo. Even pulse, soft tone production, and calm phrasing shape the character. Composure does not mean slowness: even a lively tempo can seem composed if it is not pushed.

Performance practice

Keep the pulse unwavering; composure arises from steadiness, not from slowness. Take back the accents and let the phrases end without emphasis. Keep the dynamics within middle limits and avoid large arcs. And check your own tension — a cramped arm or a pressed breath is audible in the sound.