Moment musical
Short, lyrical piano piece (Schubert).
What it means
Moment musical (French for "musical moment") is the name for a short, mostly lyrical piano piece that captures a single mood or thought. The title implies no fixed form; what matters is the character of the fleeting, self-contained moment.
Musical use
The title became famous through Franz Schubert, whose six Moments musicaux, D 780, appeared in 1828. They present small, very different mood pictures, such as a cheerful piece in the style of a dance, a calm melody and a restless movement. Other Romantic composers, for example Sergei Rachmaninoff, also used the title for piano cycles.
The moment musical should be distinguished from the impromptu, which is also short but is meant to give the impression of improvisation, and from the song without words, which follows a vocal melody more closely.
Performance practice
Shape a moment musical as a small whole with a clear character. Pay attention to tone color and to carrying the mood from the first to the last note; a tempo that is too free lets the piece easily fall apart.