Leggero

What it means

Leggero means “light” and calls for a weightless performance: little tonal weight, relaxed articulation, no heaviness in the accents. Abbreviated it appears as legg.; the spelling leggiero has the same meaning.

The marking concerns above all the manner of touch or attack. On keyboard instruments it means playing from the fingers without arm weight, for string players a light bow, for wind players a soft tonguing. It is often combined with a slightly detached articulation, without a staccato being prescribed.

Leggero differs from delicato, which means tenderness, through mobility: the tender can rest, the light moves. It differs from facile, which calls for effortlessness, in that it designates a quality of sound, not an impression.

In the notation

The word stands in italics above the staff and applies until a new marking. It is often found over fast figures, runs, and accompanying patterns that are not to become heavy, and in connection with quiet dynamics.

Musical use

The marking is used in rapid passages, in scherzos, in variations of a light character, and in accompanying figures that are to recede. In the piano literature of the nineteenth century it is especially frequent, often over pearling runs. In vocal music it designates an agile, slender vocal line.

The instruction calls for a light, weightless performance with little weight and clear, fine articulation. On the piano it succeeds with a relaxed hand and from the fingers rather than the arm, for string players with little bow pressure in the upper third or with a bouncing bow. Leggero often stands over fast runs and passage work that are to sound pearling and effortless, especially in the piano music of Chopin and Mendelssohn. Singers, too, use the term for a light, agile voice type. The tone must remain clear and must not blur.

Performance practice

Take the weight out of the arm and play from the fingers, or with a light bow. Keep the notes clear but without emphasis. Avoid accents unless they are notated. And check the tempo: lightness succeeds only if the passage sits securely technically — a passage at the edge of one's ability never sounds weightless.