Performance
Mesto
Sad.
What it means
Mesto is an Italian performance direction meaning "sad, sorrowful". It describes the expression, not a fixed tempo, but usually calls for a calm pace, subdued dynamics and a sustained, plaintive tone.
Musical use
The direction appears in slow movements, funeral music and lyrical piano pieces of the 19th and 20th centuries, often together with tempo marks such as adagio or andante. Mesto should be distinguished from doloroso, which stresses pain more strongly, from lugubre, which sounds gloomy and eerie, and from lamentoso, which is explicitly mournful.
Performance practice
Play mesto with a restrained tone and a calm touch. Avoid harshness, give the phrases time and let melody notes fade gently.