Pesante
Heavy, weighty.
What it means
Pesante means “heavy, weighty” and calls for a performance in which every note receives weight. The notes are attacked fully and sustained, the movement seems massive and definite, without lightness.
The marking concerns character and articulation. It affects the tempo, because a heavy performance does not hurry, but it does not fix it — even a moderate tempo can be played pesante.
Pesante differs from marcato, which accents every note, through weight: the accent can be light, the heaviness cannot. It differs from grave, which as a tempo word means a very slow tempo, in that it designates a manner of playing. The German equivalent is schwer or wuchtig.
In the notation
The word stands in italics above the staff and applies until a new marking. It often occurs together with tenuto strokes or accents on every note, in the low register, in unison passages, and with powerful dynamics.
Musical use
The marking is used in sections of a massive character: in heavy dance movements, in marches of a solemn or threatening tone, in unison themes, and in intensifications that demand force. In orchestral music it often stands over low strings and brass.
An example is Sibelius’s Second Symphony, Op. 43, first performed in 1902: in the slow second movement the marking Pesante appears, in the finale a Largamente e pesante. Heaviness must not become sluggishness: despite the weight, the music must keep a direction.
Performance practice
Give every note full duration and weight, without pressing it. Attack the notes with arm weight, or with much bow or air. Avoid springy, short articulation. And keep the tempo steady — heaviness arises from an even gait, not from delay.