Inquieto

What it means

Inquieto means “restless, disquieted” and calls for a performance that finds no rest. What is meant is an inner restlessness that shows in the sound: uneven accents, nervous articulation, a pulse that stays tense.

The marking concerns expression, not tempo. A restless performance need not be fast; even a moderate tempo can seem disquieted if the tension does not slacken.

It differs from the words for agitation — concitato, agitato, furioso — in degree: there the agitation breaks out, here it stays beneath the surface. It differs from affrettando, which asks for hurrying, in that no change of tempo is meant.

In the notation

The word is written in italics above the staff and applies until a new marking. Typical neighbours are syncopations, changing rhythms, chromatic turns, and restless accompaniment figures that already lay out the character in the notation.

Musical use

The designation is used in sections that depict a state of restlessness: in developments, in middle sections, in vocal music with a corresponding text. In the music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it stands over places where a calm course is disturbed or where tension is built up without yet being discharged.

Irregular accents, short phrases, and a slightly pressing tempo produce the impression of nervousness. It is found in the music of the Romantic period and the twentieth century, in operas and character pieces. Decisive is control.

Performance practice

Keep the tension up throughout and avoid calm phrase endings. Bring out syncopations and irregular accents, for they carry the restlessness. Nevertheless keep the pulse exact — restlessness in expression is not inaccuracy in rhythm. And rather take the dynamics back: restrained restlessness often acts more strongly than loud.