Lively

What it means

Lebhaft is the German equivalent of the Italian vivace and designates a lively, spirited tempo. As with most German performance markings, the emphasis lies on character: what is meant is not primarily a speed but an attitude — the music should seem alert and energetic.

Compared with schnell (“fast”), which names the speed as such, lebhaft stresses liveliness, similarly to how vivace relates to allegro. The word often appears with additions that qualify or intensify it — “not too lively,” “very lively” — and these additions often change the tempo more strongly than the base word. German tempo markings have been in use since the eighteenth century and are found especially where composers deliberately do without Italian terminology.

In the notation

The word stands above the first staff of a movement or section, in German-language editions in place of an Italian tempo word. It can become the movement's name. Where an edition marks throughout in German, the placement results from the relation to the other markings of the same work.

Musical use

The marking is used in outer movements, in dance-like movements, and in pieces of a brisk character. In song and choral literature it often stands over strophic songs with a cheerful text. In pedagogical repertoire it is common, because it makes the desired expression immediately understandable to learners, without a detour through a foreign language.

The German instruction corresponds to vivace or allegro vivo. It stands frequently in Schumann, Brahms, and Mahler, often with additions such as “not too fast.”

Performance practice

Find the tempo through the character: the movement should sound alert, not rushed. A reliable measure is the smallest note values — if they stay clear and light, the tempo is usually right. Keep the articulation short and springy, for liveliness arises more from this than from speed. Work out the metric accents and avoid stressing every note equally. And read any addition carefully before fixing the tempo.