Mezzopiano

What it means

Mezzopiano means “half soft” and designates a level between piano and mezzoforte. It is notated as mp. What is meant is a reduced but not markedly soft volume.

The level is subtler than it seems: the distance to piano is small, and in practice mp is often understood as a piano that is to carry. Decisive, as always, is the relation to the other markings of the piece — where only piano, mp, and mezzoforte occur, all three lie closer together than in a work with a widely spanned scale.

In the notation there is a risk of confusion: mp and mf differ only by the second letter and yet lie two levels apart.

In the notation

The sign mp stands below the staff, for vocal parts above the text, and applies until the next marking. It appears at the beginning of calm sections and as an intermediate level in intensifications and reductions, where it organizes the path between piano and louder levels.

Musical use

Like mezzoforte, this level too belongs to the differentiated dynamics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; older music does not know it. It is used where a section is to be reduced but not moved into the distance, and in accompanying parts that are to remain clearly audible without covering the melody. In choral settings it often designates the volume at which the text still remains well intelligible.

It is somewhat louder than piano and is often chosen for calm accompanying parts that are to remain audible.

Performance practice

Set mp deliberately below mezzoforte; the most common inaccuracy is playing both the same. Keep the tone supported, so that it carries despite the reduction. When reading, check the second letter, so as not to confuse mp and mf. And use the level as a starting point for fine intensifications: between mp and forte lies enough room to shape a phrase without large gestures.