Dolcissimo

What it means

Dolcissimo is the superlative form of dolce, “sweet, gentle,” and asks for an extremely soft performance. What is meant is a tone production without any harshness: rounded attack, connected lines, drawn-back dynamics, barely perceptible accents.

The marking concerns expression, not tempo, and usually stands as an addition. It does, however, have consequences for the tempo, for a very gentle performance tolerates no haste.

Related are soave, which means gentleness in the sense of mildness, delicato, which stresses fineness, and cantabile, which aims at singing quality. The words overlap strongly; where a distinction is made, dolcissimo means above all the softness of the sound.

Gentle does not mean weak: the tone should carry.

In the notation

The word is written in italics above the staff, often together with soft dynamics, and applies until a new marking. In piano music it can stand above a single voice and then designates which line is to be led particularly softly. Typical neighbours are connected melodies in the middle or high register.

Musical use

The designation is used in slow movements and lyrical sections, in secondary themes, and in closing phrases that are meant to die away softly. In the piano and chamber-music literature of the nineteenth century it is widespread; in vocal music it stands over passages with a corresponding text.

The superlative form of dolce stands in particularly delicate passages of the Romantic period. It demands the utmost softness of tone, calm movement, and often very quiet dynamics. Every note should seem sung, softly attacked and without a hard entry. The abbreviation is dolciss.

Performance practice

Watch the attack of every note: softness arises there and not in the volume. Avoid accents and keep the emphases so slight that the line does not seem articulated. Lead the transitions carefully so that the melody hangs together. And keep the tone sustaining despite the drawing back — a breathy sound does not fulfil the instruction.