Morendo

Softer and slower at once

On the page Notation symbols morendo is described as a simultaneous decrescendo and ritardando until the sound fades completely: the sound “dies”. In the usual definition the fading comes first, and the slowing down usually joins it. As a typical means of expression of Romanticism the page names Chopin in his nocturnes and Liszt in the late piano works.

The two components are explained by the page Dynamics and the page Tempo: the decrescendo brings calming, withdrawal or fading out. Many pieces end with a ritardando that prepares the close, like a train gently rolling into the station. Morendo unites both in one instruction.

Morendo in the score

Voice and piano

• Als die alte Mutter Antonín Dvořák, op. 55 No. 4 · voice and piano, with chords for guitar · 3 pages

  “Andante con moto”, 6/8, two sharps. On the third page “morendo” is written in the last bars under the tied chords of the piano accompaniment, in the last chord a fermata.

In Dvořák the morendo leads into the end of the song, before it, the piano has a long hairpin over two bars that opens to the right (a crescendo). The fermata in the last chord holds the note.

Common mistakes

• Only getting softer: Morendo usually also means getting slower.
• Vanishing too early: The sound is to fade gradually, not break off.
• Confusing morendo and decrescendo: The decrescendo changes only the loudness.