Grazioso

Playing gracefully

“Grazioso” comes from the Latin “gratiosus” and is related to “grace”. As a performance direction it asks for a graceful performance, “with grace” and elegance. The word does not say how fast to play.

Three ways the word appears

The sheets from the archive show three possibilities:

Piano

• Innocence Friedrich Burgmüller, op. 100 No. 5 · piano · 1 page

  The piece is headed “Moderato”, in 3/4 time with one ♭. In bar 1, under the first sixteenth-note group of the right hand, are “p” and, next to it in italics, “grazioso”. In the third system, after a repeat sign, comes “p leggiermente”.

• Sonata facile, 3rd movement: Rondo Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 545 · piano · 3 pages

  Above the first system is “Rondo - Allegretto grazioso” (the subtitle names only “Rondo. Allegretto”). 2/4 time, no key signature, p at the beginning. Tempo and character are given in the same expression.

Guitar

• Etüde Nr. 12 Mauro Giuliani, op. 100 No. 12 · guitar · 2 pages

  To the left of the first system is “Grazioso.” as the only direction, and below it in the corner “No. 12. Caprice”. 6/8 time, one sharp, mf in bar 1. The word applies to the whole piece.

In Burgmüller, “grazioso” is placed beside a dynamic marking, like “dolce”, and concerns the beginning of the piece. In Giuliani it is the only direction before the first system and applies to the whole piece. In Mozart it supplements the tempo word “Allegretto” in the same expression.

Grazioso and dolce

Both words describe character, but differently: dolce means soft, gentle sound, grazioso grace and elegance. They can occur together, but they do not replace each other. A piece that asks for “grazioso” may quite well begin mf, as in Giuliani.

Common mistakes

• Reading grazioso as a tempo: It names the character. In Mozart the tempo is given by the word “Allegretto”.
• Playing too quietly: Grace is not a volume; Giuliani writes mf.
• Playing stiffly: Graceful means fluent and light, not timid.