Crescendo

What it means

Crescendo comes from crescere, “to grow,” and calls for a gradual increase in volume. The abbreviation is cresc. The marking names no target value; how far the increase goes follows from the dynamic markings that stand before and after.

Decisive is the word “gradual.” A crescendo is a process, not a state — in contrast to forte or piano, which denote a level, and in contrast to a sudden change such as subito forte demands. It is likewise to be distinguished from sforzando, which emphasizes a single note without changing the basic volume.

The opposite term is decrescendo or diminuendo.

In the notation

Two ways of writing are usual: the word or the abbreviation cresc., usually with a dashed continuation line, and the wedge-shaped hairpin, which opens from left to right. Both mean the same thing; for longer stretches the word is preferred, for short ones the hairpin. The hairpin stands below the staff, in vocal parts above the text. The end of the increase is marked by a new dynamic marking.

Musical use

The gradual growth is one of the most important means of shaping there is. It leads toward climaxes, gives phrases direction, and keeps long sections in tension. In Baroque music it is still little used; there terraced dynamics with stepwise change prevail. With the orchestra of the Mannheim school and the Viennese Classical period, the long-planned crescendo becomes a fixed part of orchestral language, and in the Romantic period it is part of the self-evident craft.

The crescendo became famous in the eighteenth century through the Mannheim court orchestra.

Performance practice

Begin deliberately quiet, otherwise you lack the increase at the end. Divide the growth over the whole stretch and think it in steps, not as a sudden jump shortly before the goal. Take care that the tempo does not get pulled along. In an ensemble, agreement on starting point and goal matters more than on every intermediate step — rehearse both explicitly.